


Bringing the Fight to You

by CaraAkame



Series: Where Life Has Led You [7]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: FMA Big Bang 2017, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, If I start tagging everything we'll be here all day, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Promised Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-01-30 09:46:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 26,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12651099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaraAkame/pseuds/CaraAkame
Summary: Story so far:Edward and Alphonse were born a few years earlier, so Edward is 21 at the beginning of this story. Edward never became a State Alchemist, instead, he and Alphonse train with Izumi Curtis and travel the world, learning as much as they can. Alphonse is now a doctor, and Edward has multiple PhDs in the fields of Alchemy and Languages, and is a professor at Central University. They saved Maes Hughes, who set up Edward as Roy Mustang’s escort to a military ball. Edward and Alphonse learn of the conspiracy involving the Promised Day.This fic:In order to prevent the scheme of the military high command to use all of Amestris to become immortal, Edward and Alphonse join forces with Mustang. They gather allies and prepare as best they can for the fight to come. Along the way, Roy and Ed have to hide their relationship, in order to tempt the senior staff into thinking they can gain Ed as an ally for their schemes. This doesn’t stop their romance from blooming, but many obstacles are put in their path. This is the story of how the Promised Day, and the year leading up to it, would have gone, had Edward stayed out of the military, and Hughes survived to tell the tale of a nationwide transmutation circle.





	1. A Secret Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my dears! Yes! A miracle has happened! I am not dead!
> 
> This will probably be changed, things might be added, but the deadline is coming up, so here we are!  
> I hope you enjoy this clusterfuck.
> 
> There are some scenes that I didn't put in simply because I haven't had time to do them justice and/or they are very similar to canon and it doesn't take away from the actual storyline when they're not there. I will be writing those and either adding them into the story or posting them separately. Maybe both. Let me know what you would prefer! I will mark them with squiggly lines (~~~~~) like so.  
> Some chapters will be much longer than you are used to from me, and some will be really short (but might still be extended, like Chapter 5). I will be updating multiple chapters at once probably, or like one a day, until the deadline (Nov. 19th), so not such a long wait this time!
> 
> There will also be art and I will link the artist when I incorporate the art in the chapter.  
> If you haven't read the previous works in this series, please read the summary or this might not make a whole lot of sense, especially in the beginning.
> 
> This is also still unbeta'd (sorry), and might have a few errors. Feel free to point them out to me!
> 
> ENJOY!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Al finally learn of the conspiracy, along with a very select few others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, first chapter! I hope y'all like it, even if I'm unhappy with it. 
> 
> This is unbeta'd, enjoy!

**August 30 th 1914**

Riza’s phone rings. Without checking who it is – very few people call her at home – she picks up the receiver, saying: “Sir.”

“Riza. I’m adding somebody to our guest-list.”, Roy Mustang’s voice tells her. “I’ll inform the birthday-boy, Roy.”, she replies. This code may not be the most sophisticated, but seeing as it’s Alex’s birthday soon, it’s the simplest.

“Thank you, Riza. I’ll see you tomorrow.”, he replies, followed by a dial tone. Sighing, she starts writing an ‘invitation’ for the new ‘guest’. She wishes all this farce wasn’t necessary, but with all they have learned, it’s high time they do something about it.

*****

**July 1 st 1914**

Alphonse stares suspiciously at the piece of paper in his hand. Ed can’t see what it’s about, but it looks like the invitation Roy showed the soldiers at the Armstrong mansion for the ball. He’s about to ask, but, seeing as Al can sense his questioning _qi_ , he doesn’t have to. Al just wordlessly hands him an identical piece of paper without looking up from his own.

 

_Dr mult. Edward Elric,_

_You have been invited to the Armstrong Manor to partake in the festivities of Major Alex Louis Armstrong’s birthday dinner._

_Details are attached._

_Sincerely,_

_Major Riza Hawkeye_

 

_Attire: Semi-formal_

_Address: Gramway Street 143_

_Date: July 12 th 1914_

 

“I feel like there’s a code in there, but I can’t find it.”, Al says after staring at the invitation for a good five minutes. “Because there isn’t. It really _is_ Armstrong’s birthday next week. I’m sure they’re using it as a cover, but I doubt they’re gonna put that in writing in any way. The only thing that makes this in any way suspicious is that Hawkeye sent it. That is the only clue for us that this isn’t _just_ a birthday dinner. I’m sure it’s on purpose.”, Ed replies. He’s sure because he checked it over for anything hinting at a code. He might not be able to crack every code right away, but he can always tell when there’s something hidden in a page. This is just a nudge.

Not looking quite convinced, but clearly opting to think more on it later, Al shrugs and starts getting dressed for work.

***** 

“Fuhrer Bradley, I have a suggestion.”, The Flame Alchemist pipes in while the other Generals argue about the State Alchemist program yet again. “Let’s hear it, General Mustang.”, King Bradley replies, instantly curious. Mustang rarely interrupts the usual bickering, opting to stay out of it until everybody has either worked themselves up or calmed down.

“Not only do we need more Alchemists, but evaluation day is coming up soon. I suggest combining these. A big event to interest the general public and to remind them of the power of the military.”, the Flame General suggests. Wrath is sure there’s some sort of ulterior motive, but is interested none the less. “Elaborate.”, he commands. Seemingly searching for words – a farce, of course, though the other Generals probably can’t see it – Mustang pauses for a second, before replying: “Perhaps a duel? We have done those before to evaluate combat alchemists. All combat State Alchemists could participate as their evaluation, or decide to get evaluated differently.”

Wrath remembers the last duel event. Mustang won that one with Grand – another one of the Generals excluded from the unofficial meetings – coming in second. It really is quite a shame his most talented candidates have such high morals.

“So the same as five years ago. That takes care of one problem, but what was your suggestion for recruitment?”, Kind Bradley enquires. Mustang looks like he’s bracing himself for an argument – interesting – and says: “An open tournament.”

And there’s the argument he was bracing himself for. Most of his senior staff are not even alchemists themselves, yet they are instantly in uproar:

“That’s preposterous!”

“As if non certified alchemists could even come close to making our State Alchemists break a sweat!”

“How dare you?”

Grand stays silent. He is the only other Alchemist in his senior staff. He looks unhappy, however he is not arguing. Wrath turns to him and asks: “General Grand. This applies to you. What is your opinion on this matter?”

The Iron Blood Alchemist ponders this before slowly replying: “I honestly doubt this will be a challenge for us, but it would be a show of power – one we definitely need, I might add – and who knows, perhaps there’s someone out there who could prove a challenge. If you recall, there are constantly alchemists disrupting the peace that must be stopped by us alchemists, and not all of them are completely useless.”

Mustang looks pleased, if surprised, before he composes himself and adds: “I would suggest giving a raise, promotion, or similar reward to the winner of the duel, in order to motivate our alchemists. Promotion of course is not an option for General Grand or myself, so I will leave to you to decide on how to handle that issue, your Excellency. On the off chance that a non-certified Alchemist wins, I would suggest giving them a recommendation for the program. We should approach any Alchemists with potential regardless, but, as it’s unlikely any non-certified Alchemists best us, it would prove more of a motivator for people to participate.”

Wrath contemplates Mustang’s offer. It would be easy to spot possible candidates on whether or not they need a circle or not. A show of power is also never a bad idea in these times. What Mustang stands to gain is not quite clear, but it’s possible he’s trying to find potential allies should he truly be trying to go against Father. Hughes certainly knows something, and the attempt failed. That is a major setback. Staging another one would be quite difficult now, as he’s carefully watched by Mustang’s entire team. Perhaps disbanding them would help, but it’s too late now anyways. He’s sure to have passed whatever information he has to Mustang as soon as possible. It’s pointless to kill him now. He’ll have to convene with Father to discuss this particular matter some other time. As for the issue at hand – “I will accept your proposal.”

***** 

**July 12 th 1914**

“Hey, brother, General Mustang’s here!”, Al yells up the stairs before turning back to the General. “Thank you for picking us up, sir. Ed won’t say it, but he’s been fretting about this entire thing all week.”

“Don’t mention it. Also, Alphonse, I thought I told you to call me Roy. I’d really rather prefer if you didn’t make me feel like a dirty old man. At least drop the title and the sirs.”, The Flame Alchemist replies, looking resigned.

“I’ll try, sir.”, Al tells him, smirking internally. Usually he is simply polite and prefers calling people sir, but this time he wants to make Roy feel old. Nobody ever suspects him. He likes Roy, but anybody trying to date his brother has to deal with his personal brand of torture.

Roy simply shakes his head and watches the stairs for Ed.

Al smirks slightly outwardly now. He picked out Ed’s outfit, just like last time. He knows exactly how to make Roy melt into a puddle.

And as expected Roy stares wide eyed at Ed. He’s wearing a similar outfit to last time, black slacks, black waistcoat, red shirt. The shirt sleeves are rolled up to the elbows, the top few buttons open. Ed tried refusing that, thinking his automail scars were off putting, but Al is pretty sure Roy would think it’s sexy. The thing he’s truly proud of is getting May to do Ed’s hair. Instead of its usual braid or ponytail, this time it’s elaborately braided up so that the top half is up in a ponytail while the rest hangs around his shoulders.

Audibly swallowing, Roy extends his elbow – like a proper gentleman – for Ed, who stares at it for a second before winding his arm around it. Sensing Ed’s irritable _qi_ , he quickly schools his expression to one of innocence.

“Al, stop smirking, let’s go.”, Ed tells his brother, who pouts dramatically. Roy looks confused and says: “But he wasn’t smirking.” Al grins and just says: “ _Qi_ ”

*****

The Armstrong mansion looks the same as the last time he was here. The only difference is the amount of Amestrian blue. There are a lot less soldiers milling around this time around. It is to be expected, this is not an official military function, just a farce of a birthday party.

“General Roy Mustang, Dr. Edward Elric, and Dr. Alphonse Elric.”, Roy tells the guard at the entrance, handing him their invitations. “Welcome, sirs. Major Armstrong wishes to see you in the west parlour at your earliest convenience.”, the guard tells them. Roy simply nods and salutes, and starts walking through the enormous entrance.

“Food first, or sending our wishes to the birthday boy right away?”, Roy asks the Elric brothers. Ed grins and says: “Well, if you’re gonna give me a _choice_ …” and walks up to the buffet table.

After eating a normal person’s ‘reasonable’ amount – Al shook his head at him after he reached for a second plate – the three men made their way over to the west wing of the mansion. Stepping into the parlour, Ed can’t help but think that it’s just an expensively furnished living room, but after sitting on one of the sofa’s, he has to admit it’s also a very _comfortably_ furnished living room.

It took another half hour until Armstrong stepped into the ‘parlour’, followed by three people who looked unfamiliar to Ed, but clearly were known by everybody else in the room.

“Everybody is here, sir. Let us begin.”, Armstrong addresses Roy, who nods and stands up.

“Hello everyone. Most of you know at least titbits of what is going on. So we’re all on the same page, Brigadier General Hughes and myself will be filling you in on everything we know so far.”

Hughes stands up as well, joining Roy at the front of the room. “First of all, introductions are in order. Most of you know each other, but you might have noticed a few new additions. These two lovely blondes are Drs Edward and Alphonse Elric. Both are accomplished alchemists, with a good ten PhDs between them. Edward is a professor at Central University and Alphonse is a doctor at Central Hospital. I owe them both my life. Everybody else here is under military employ so you should have at least passed in the hallway. Mustang’s team over there consists of Major Riza Hawkeye, Second Lieutenant Kain Fuery, First Lieutenant Vato Falman, Captain Jean Havoc, and Captain Heymans Breda. My team consists of Sergeant Heathcliff Erbe, Second Lieutenant Tara Compton, Captain Focker, and First Lieutenant Jeanne Curie. General Grumman cannot be here today, but we have filled him in already. He has some people from his team here as well: Second Lieutenant Rebecca Catalina, Sergeant Charlie Day, Sergeant Richard Gronn and Second Lieutenant Alexandre Penn. Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong and her team: Major Faris Miles, Captain Grant Buccaneer, Second Lieutenant Alexander Henschel, Sergeant James Karley and Sergeant Nathan Smith. Other than that Major Armstrong has brought two of his subordinates, Sergeant Denny Brosh and Second Lieutenant Maria Ross. I expect nobody to remember all these names, but most of you should be acquainted already, so in case you can’t remember, just ask. Communication will be between the ranking officers for the most part, so if you have questions ask them from your commanding officer _discreetly_. Any questions pertaining to the Elrics either ask Roy or myself. Major Armstrong and Major Hawkeye know them too, so if you need anything right away, you can ask them to contact them. Now, I think that’s it for the introductions. Now the serious work begins.”, Hughes says and his cheerful air disappears, morphing into a serious one.

He continues: “Now, as you all know, I was shot a few months ago. Thanks to the Elrics, I am here to tell you _why_. I discovered something I wasn’t supposed to. Now, this might be a bit hard to understand for non-alchemists, and hard to swallow for everybody.” Taking a second to collect himself, Hughes exhales sharply and continues: “All the border skirmishes we’ve been having, have been in very specific places. Alex was kind enough to provide us with a map of Amestris. Lieutenant Falman, please mark every single incident that was accompanied with large loss of life.”

As Falman marks all the places that have been attacked – remarkable memory, that one – a picture emerges for Ed. He sees it right away and his eyes widen. The points have not been connected, but he would recognize that transmutation circle anywhere.

“Is that…”, Al starts before feeling Ed’s _qi_ for confirmation. Roy is the only person apart from Hughes that looks unsurprised and Armstrong is the only one who doesn’t look confused, but very horrified. Roy then connects the dots into the circle for human transmutation. Some people recognize it and their confused looks morph into ones of fear, shock, and disbelief.

“You can’t be serious.”, Olivier Armstrong says in a completely flat tone, though she looks more horrified than anything else.

“I’m afraid I am. For those who do not know, this is a transmutation circle. For human transmutation.”, Roy replies, looking at the few still confused soldiers among them. The entire room’s _qi_ is a blanket of horror, even the ones who outwardly seem calm can’t hide it.

“Roy?”, Ed asks, not sure what exactly he’s asking for. Roy looks at him, understanding without ‘ _qi_ ’ that Ed is at loss. “I told you I’d rather keep you out of it.”, he says. Ed can’t help but agree. He wishes he had never known this, but, then again, “It’s better I know. Al and I can help. Not knowing would not help anyone.”

Hughes continues his explanation: “This isn’t even all of it. There’s more. The person who shot me, they weren’t human. I’m pretty sure it was a man, but it was hard to tell. He literally changed his appearance at a whim. First he impersonated Lieutenant Ross, but made a mistake.”, he addresses Maria Ross next, “The mole under your eye was missing. I knew it wasn’t you. You wouldn’t point a gun at me.”, he then turned to the rest of the room, “When I told him I knew he wasn’t our Lieutenant, he _added_ the mole. This might help you boys -”, he addressed Ed and Al next, “- Alchemy always has this blue electricity looking thing. This was the same, but _red_.”

Ed knows _exactly_ what that means. “Red sparks mean human transmutation, or a Philosopher’s Stone.”, Al says, looking slightly sick. Hughes nods and says: “I suspected that something had to be different for that transmutation. Then, he impersonated my wife. I couldn’t shoot her, that hesitance was enough for him to pull the trigger. But before that, in the file room where I checked the map, a woman attacked me. Her fingers suddenly elongated and stabbed my shoulder. Now that is not normal human behaviour so I suspect she’s with the other guy. I put a knife in her forehead, but I’m not sure that stuck, to be quite honest.”

“If they’re not human, what are they?”, Denny Brosh asks, and Roy replies: “We don’t know, to be honest. We also don’t know how far up this goes. I’m sure the senior staff is meeting without Grumman and me, no idea why, but I’m guessing there’s something going on. All those massacres were caused by Central forces stepping in. The military has to be behind this, but I don’t know how many of the senior staff are involved, or if the Fuhrer himself is behind this. Just to be cautious, we’ll assume the worst.”

“Roy, there’s a point missing for the transmutation.”, Ed points out as he looks over all the massacres. “I know. Major General Armstrong, another reason why we called you here is that the last point needed for this transmutation is Fort Briggs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you had fun!  
> Ally lists will be updated when new people are introduced, so you don't have to be confused.
> 
> Please feel free to comment!  
> (Actually, no, feel encouraged or even obligated to comment, comments make me work faster and also make my day!)
> 
> Here's the ally list for this chapter:
> 
> Team Ed:  
> Edward Elric  
> Alphonse Elric
> 
> Team Mustang:  
> General Roy Mustang  
> Major Riza Hawkeye  
> Second Lieutenant Kain Fuery  
> First Lieutenant Vato Falman  
> Captain Jean Havoc  
> Captain Heymans Breda
> 
> Team Hughes:  
> Brigadier General Maes Hughes  
> Sergeant Heathcliff Erbe  
> Second Lieutenant Tara Compton  
> Captain Focker  
> First Lieutenant Jeanne Curie
> 
> Team Grumman:  
> General Grumman  
> Second Lieutenant Rebecca Catalina  
> Sergeant Charlie Day  
> Sergeant Richard Gronn  
> Second Lieutenant Alexandre Penn
> 
> Team Briggs:  
> Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong  
> Major Faris Miles  
> Captain Grant Buccaneer  
> Second Lieutenant Alexander Henschel  
> Sergeant James Karley  
> Sergeant Nathan Smith
> 
> Team Armstrong:  
> Major Alex Lois Armstrong  
> Sergeant Denny Brosh  
> Second Lieutenant Maria Ross


	2. Getting into Position

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meeting comes to a close, and everybody is getting ready for some dueling!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dears! This is a bit shorter, but the next one will be really long and be completely filled with duels and conspiracy, you know, what you really came here for ;)
> 
> I'm having a bit of a hard time writing some of them, so they might not turn out as great as I want them to, however I might still change them later, and will notify you if anything changes.
> 
> Have fun with this short bit of rambling, and see you again soon! (Probably still today, I have two boring lectures today and how bets to procrastinate?)
> 
> Enjoy!

**July 12 th 1914**

Alex Armstrong was required to mingle with all of his guests so he had to be excused for a while once all the shouting had calmed down. Roy knows it’s not only necessary, but also an excuse to clear his mind a little bit. It must be hard for him too. It says a lot that the Major didn’t burst into tears. He looked numb with shock. “ _Ishval. We massacred thousands for a blood crest_.”, the large man had said. He was right. Not only was it a slaughter of innocents, it was a slaughter in order to enable another slaughter. Roy drank himself into a stupor when he realized that. Riza was mad as hell, but she understood.

Roy takes a deep breath before saying: “Now that that’s out of the way, we have something else to discuss.”

“There’s _more_?!”, Maria Ross exclaims. Roy nods at her and says: “First of all, we have to determine who among the military is in on the scheme. I’m pretty sure most of the senior command is in on this. Grumman and myself excluded, the Central senior staff is probably in on it. I’m certain they’re holding meetings without me. What I have to determine is who else is excluded from those meetings. I’m not sure how to go about that, since I can’t outright ask people. Grumman thinks Raven might be on our side, and I suspect Grand might be as well, but that’s to be seen. Our current plan is to wait for them to approach us somehow to determine our loyalties. If any of you have capable people among the people you trust with your life, get them to the next meeting. What we really need to determine, however, is who among the State Alchemists is on our side. We need as many of them with us instead of against us as possible, especially the combat Alchemists like myself and Grand.”

Maes chuckles and says: “I really hope Grand is with us. He’s the only Alchemist I’ve ever seen that can match Roy.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that duel, that was _awesome_.”, Denny Brosh interjects.

“Yes, speaking of that duel. The senior staff has taken my suggestion that as re-evaluation for the combat Alchemists, we hold another round of duels. In addition, the military is really antsy to recruit more Alchemists – I suspect they expect another war, but who knows – so I suggested making it an open tournament. They of course think that’s stupid because every talented Alchemist is already in the military. Which is, of course, bullshit. Edward here will be taking part in the tournament. Alphonse, will you be joining as well?”, Roy asks, looking at the younger Elric.

Alphonse immediately answers: “No. Brother and I discussed this. Chances are, if we go up against each other we are evenly matched, and Ed needs his students to see him hand some State Alchemists their asses. I’ll be secret weapon. They don’t know how good I am and that’s our advantage. I’ll be standing by with the medical staff just in case. We also discussed that Edward will not be using Alchehestry. They don’t need to know that we can transmute long range. He _will_ be using Water Alchemy because that will intrigue the military most. After all, they want someone at least as strong as General Mustang who they think has no loyalties to any of you.”

Maes nods and adds: “Ed, be brash and loud. You look young, you _are_ young. If they think you’re easily influenced by being given what you want, they’ll be more inclined to approach you.”

Ed grins and says: “Done. Though I can’t overdo it, my students are there.”

Roy is a bit scared now. He’s never seen Ed perform Water Alchemy. He’s going to get his ass handed to him and he knows it.

“Scared, Roy?”, Ed asks sweetly, as if he can’t feel how alarmed Roy is.

Thankfully he is spared having to answer by Alphonse cutting in: “Oh! Don’t forget to stage a fight or something. They must know that you’ve met and that something between you happened. Make them think they can use any residual resentment to turn you to their side.”

 

“On another note, Ed, Roy said you and your brother can read minds?”, Maes asks, making everybody look alarmed, Roy smack his hand against his forehead and the Elrics laugh hysterically. Alphonse recovers first and replies: “Not minds, Mr. Hughes. It’s hard to explain, really. Every living thing gives off a certain energy and we can read that energy. So we usually can tell what somebody is feeling, or how many people are in a room and things. It’s part of Alchehestry, it’s their source for the transmutations.”

“Out of curiosity, what Alchemy types are you both proficient in?”, Olivier Armstrong asks the Elrics. They look at each other before Alphonse replies: “We’re pretty all round. We’re both Alchehestrists, so we can do long distance transmutations. I specialize in Plant Alchemy and brother is great at Water Alchemy. However, we’re both capable of either. We’re good at metals and stuff too, so basically at least rudimentary knowledge of every style on this continent, though better at some than others.”

Even Olivier looks impressed. She asks: “Can you read intent?”, and Ed looks like he understands perfectly what she is getting at. “You mean can I possibly know who would be most likely to side with us, or can I read a person’s next move in a fight? Because the answer to both is yes.”

Roy looks at Ed pleadingly and he says: “After the duel, Roy.”, making Roy pout and Maes confusedly looking between them. Alphonse clarifies: “There’s a waterproofing array. General Mustang has been trying to get both of us to cough it up, but has been very unlucky so far.”

Ed sniggers and adds: “No way am I giving him that array _before_ I fight him. He _could_ find it by asking one of my students, of course, but he seems determined to get it out of me.”

“It feels like cheating if I go the easy route.”, Roy tells him. It’s also because, if Ed gives it to him, it will be the ultimate sign of trust.

“If we have a traitor in our midst, could you find them? Can you read the senior staff?”, Olivier continues as if nothing had happened. “We can. And we will.”, Al replies.

“This duel, when does it take place?”, Maes asks. They hadn’t discussed that yet. Roy turns to the room as a whole and says: “In a month, August 14th. It’s re-evaluation day.”

*****

**August 14 th 1914**

“You ready, brother?”, Alphonse asks. Ed isn’t the least bit worried and tells Al: “Definitely. The State Alchemists are duelling each other first anyway.”

The schedule for the tournament is, first, State against State, then non-State against non-State. The top four of each then duel each other. The winners of each duel then face each other until the finale where the winner is determined. Ed feels confident he’ll be in that finale, though if he isn’t, whoever is, will become his new best friend.

Ed’s students are hanging around the front of the crowd – he got them prime spots – and some of them even opted to take part as extra credit. Ed and Al try hard to make sure nobody suspects they know any of the military personnel milling around, opting to instead read the _qi_ of the senior staff. They seem more annoyed at the spectacle than anything else, though Grand seems indifferent. Like this is his re-evaluation and he expects to do well.

Then, Ed feels it. His first thought is ‘ _Dad?_ ’, but that can’t be, he’s in Resembool. He also feels Al’s _qi_ giving off a distress signal. So must May, because she comes running from where she was chatting with some nurses.

“Alphonse! What is that?”, she asks. “It feels like the ground, just stronger.”, Al says and Ed understands perfectly. After learning Alchehestry, Ed and Al noticed how the ground seemed to be milling with thousands of souls. They thought it was highly suspicious and disturbing, but got so used to it over time that they all but forgot about it. Somewhere in that mass of Amestrian blue something was giving off that same energy, but condensed into a single person. Looking around they couldn’t see anyone looking out of place and at this distance they couldn’t pin point the exact location whatever was giving off that energy.

“Al. Whatever that is, it’s not human, and it’s in that sea of military personnel.”, Ed tells his brother, who just nods, looking slightly sick.

“Brother, what if it’s one of those inhuman things that attacked Mr. Hughes?”, Al asks after a slight pause. Ed thinks it’s very likely and immediately starts looking around for Hughes. He’s the only one who can plausibly come up to them in a setting like this, since they met at the hospital. Once he spots him he focuses his _qi_ to get his attention. Even people who can’t sense _qi_ can feel when someone is focusing on them, especially someone with a battle sense.

Hughes looks at them and Ed waves with a huge grin, hoping the older man would understand that he meant for them to come over. Thankfully, he did, and loudly proclaimed: “Drs Elric! So good to see you here! You taking part in the tournament?”

Al smiles at Hughes and replies: “Hello Mr. Hughes! I’m just standing by with the medical team, but my brother is taking part for his students. Or, to show off, really. I’m more of a doctor than a fighter, so it would be pointless for me to take part, I’m afraid.”

Ed tries very hard not to laugh at that, and mostly manages to hide his laughter behind a cough. Al scowls at him and says: “No need to laugh at me, brother.”

‘ _Nice save, Al_ ’, Ed thinks, but says: “Sorry, Al.” instead.

“Mr. Hughes, could you come with me for a second? I would like to assess how you’ve been doing since the incident.”, Al says.

Watching Hughes walk away with Al, no doubt to fill him in on the strange mass of energy, Ed nearly misses the announcement: “ _Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Before we begin, the Fuhrer would like to say a few words_.” Ed feels the mass of _qi_ moving and turns to see Fuhrer King Bradley stand on a podium to address the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you for everybody who has been commenting! Please continue doing so, it gives me life <3  
> If you comment before the next Chapter is up, you can still leave some suggestions on what you would like to see!


	3. Duels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! Two chapters in one day! (There may be more coming today, we'll see)
> 
> I might add some things here, but the big duel is in here (as of 5 mins ago), so tell me if you want a more detailed account of any of the fights! :)
> 
> "~~~~~" means there might be something added there if enough people request it, but it isn't instrumental to the story.
> 
> This is the one everybody was waiting for (I think), so enjoy this uncharacteristically long chapter!
> 
> PS: Still unbeta'd

**August 14 th 1914 (continued)**

“Alphonse, what is it?”, Maes Hughes asks the young doctor. He had started whispering about a mass of _qi_ that felt inhuman to him and suddenly stopped, eyes going wide.

“Mr. Hughes. I was wrong. There are two of them.”, Alphonse says, not taking his eyes off the Fuhrer. Maes confusedly asks: “Two of what? Alphonse, what’s going on?”

“They must have been standing together.”, the younger man says, as if he couldn’t hear Maes.

“Alphonse, please tell me, you are worrying me.”, he says, hoping Alphonse would snap out of it.

“What I was feeling earlier, well, it felt a bit like my father. It’s a really long story, but he is basically a Philosopher’s Stone. I thought, maybe he had come to see Ed fight, but he’s supposed to be in Resembool, and besides, he feels different. I felt a Philosopher’s Stone. It was somewhere among the military personnel, but now…”, Alphonse says before drifting off.

Maes doesn’t quite understand, so he asks: “So? I thought they were a legend, but hey, if they exist that’s good isn’t it? Also I expect a full explanation on your father, but that can wait.”

Alphonse finally looks at him and says: “Philosopher’s Stones, they’re made of human energy. As in, you need multiple human sacrifices to create one.”

Then it clicks: “Ishval”, Maes says and Alphonse nods. “Exactly. But also, I thought someone was carrying one around or maybe there was someone else out there like dad, but just now, when the Fuhrer went up to the podium, I felt half of it move. I… Mr. Hughes, I think the Fuhrer might not be human.”

*****

Roy couldn’t find Maes anywhere. He saw his best friend run off to greet the Elrics, but since the Fuhrer started speaking he hadn’t seen him anywhere. Suddenly someone slips a piece of paper into his hand and he sees golden hair vanish from his peripheral vision.

 

_Hughes with Al, Bradley not human, after party at the hospital_

 

He incinerates the paper as discreetly as he can and tries to find Ed. He sees him talking to Armstrong, one of the few people he can talk to without raising suspicions, and relaxes. At least Hughes didn’t get offed while he wasn’t looking. He can see Ed slip a piece of paper into Alex’s pocket, so he assumes he’s giving everybody the notice to meet him later.

It’s a good cover, after the duel all participants have to get checked out just in case, so he can relay any information to his team some other time.

Bradley not being human means that he’s in on the scheme. It’s quite a shame, really, he had hoped he didn’t have to commit full blown treason.

***** 

After getting the note about the hospital to everybody who could show up without raising suspicion to themselves, Ed goes to stand in the non-certified Alchemist section to watch the State Alchemists battle.

He first asses his competition. Should be easy enough, judging from their _qi_. Some seem overconfident from what he can see of their circles and stature. Others are so nervous it’s a wonder they’re not bolting. He waves at his students and at the few people he recognizes. The ones who aren’t his students look slightly alarmed at the sight of him, they can at least guess on his skills. The ones that don’t recognize him look more amused than anything. He looks young, slender, and doesn’t carry any circles on his person, unlike most people there. He smirks to himself, he loves it when people underestimate him.

Once he’s satisfied he doesn’t have to go all out, he watches the sixth duel come to an end.

That Grand guy wiped the floor with his opponent. Not much of a surprise there, that guy managed to give Roy a run for his money. Though he was convinced State Alchemists were supposed to be good. That guy looked like he never fights or practices. Grand seems completely relaxed and almost bored, though his _qi_ shows some anticipation when he sees Roy.

The next fight is between a tiny old man with a peg leg and a big guy with impressive tattoos. They’re evenly matched at the beginning, Peg Leg being surprisingly agile for a man his age, but Tattoo Guy has strength on his side. The big guy has a hard time landing any hits, but when he does, the old man falls, his peg leg broken in half. Peg Leg turns himself into a spinning top in retaliation. He’s fast, much faster than his opponent. Tattoo Guy puts up a good defence but it is ultimately broken by the speed of Peg Leg, who gets a good hit to the head in, ultimately winning the battle because Tattoo Guy clearly has a concussion and can’t block any hits anymore. This duel is much more brutal, so much so that it seems personal. Tattoo Guy gets carried to Al’s truck and treated somewhere out of sight. Ed likes the old man – he clearly will not take shit from people who think he’s too old or weak to be a threat.

Roy takes his spot on the left side of the cleared space watching his opponent, a young man, who looks as Amestrian as they come, and clearly a new recruit, because he looks like he’s about to piss himself, as he should. He thinks someone said his name was Andrews.

Roy doesn’t do anything, just waits for his opponent to make the first move, smirk firmly in place. Andrews drops to the floor and raises five stone figures out of the dirt that move to attack Roy, keeping a thin line of stone between himself and the figures to maintain the Alchemical reaction. It’s a neat trick and Ed is sure to remember it for another time. However, it is completely useless against Roy, since his fire can simply bypass it. Roy seems to be feeling up to a game though because he doesn’t use his fire at all for the first few minutes. Just dodges the attacks, slowly getting closer to the lines connecting Alchemist and figures. Once he’s between his opponent and his figurines, Roy grins and the Andrews kid flinches, but then looks surprised when Roy just sets the lines on fire. The kid must be an idiot because he drops the lines as soon as they appear to be burning. Stone doesn’t burn. It does the trick, though. No longer connected to the Alchemists, the figurines stop moving, stuck in the position they were in when the connection broke.

Roy surrounds Andrews with fire, close enough to be scary and uncomfortably warm, but not close enough to actually hurt him. Andrews encases himself in stone and rolls out of the ring of fire, only to realize that as soon as he drops the stone armour that the flames are following him. Instead of trying to salvage the duel and getting horribly burnt in the process, he concedes. The commentator calls Roy soft, but acknowledges the win.

With that, the first round is over. Eight Alchemists are left now, set to duel again after the first round of non-certified Alchemist duels. Ed knows it will be Roy, Grand, Peg Leg, and Armstrong that will be his possible opponents. The other four winners were just lucky they got paired with someone even less qualified than they were. They won’t be this lucky again. A chalk board shows that his four favourites won’t be fighting against each other. It could be a stroke of luck, but Ed thinks it’s possible that the senior staff just wanted the best of their ranks to face the non-certified Alchemists. They may have been dismissive of other Alchemists, but they weren’t going to take any chances, it seems.

*****

Roy hasn’t ever seen Ed fight, so he is extremely excited to see the man do more than off-hand Alchemy. Ed looks completely relaxed as he watches some of the other Alchemists fight, only his eyes showing that he is calculating exactly how he needs to go about this. He can see a lot of people looking terrified when they spot him and make a wide berth around him, while the ones that must be his students seem to be gravitating towards him.

Roy isn’t particularly interested in the current fights. Because so many people showed up, instead of one on one fights, ten people are thrown into the ‘ring’ at once – last man standing wins. So far, most people seemed to be completely thrown by the prospect of fighting more than one person and got knocked off their feet almost immediately by the one person who managed to adapt. He wonders how long Ed’s round will last.

*****

By the time Ed’s name is called, most people have already joined the spectator section after losing their round. Ed just positions himself at his spot and stands there as if this entire thing is boring – playing the part of the loud, naïve youngster, no doubt – while scanning every single of his opponents for weaknesses. Roy knows that look very well.

The young blonde doesn’t do more than calmly walk towards the centre as soon as the signal to begin is given. Some people clearly know him – or _of_ him, at least – because they immediately try to get as far away from him as possible, opting to try to eliminate other opponents first. Some clearly don’t know who he is and think this overconfident young man is the perfect target. Roy can’t see Ed’s face from where he’s standing, but he knows the man must be grinning from ear to ear.

The first person attacks him, but Ed doesn’t even fight back, just dodges the attack aimed at him from behind. He then whirls around and simply kicks the poor guy with his normal leg – how nice of him – and he flies a few metres. The other people waiting to target Ed pause in their advance and stare at each other. Clearly they decide attacking him together is a better course of action.

Roy can see Ed’s face now and clearly the young man knows exactly what the people behind him are planning. He grins widely, claps and transmutes a staff out of the ground and swipes it at the feet of his attackers as soon as they are close enough. One of them manages to stay on his feet, but his balance is now off. Ed doesn’t pay him any mind and drops to the ground – clapping – and encases the other three in the dirt they were laying on, only their heads poking out.

The last one backs off, clearly searching for new allies and not finding any. Most people already eliminated each other, though two people still remain. Both must be Ed’s students because instead of fighting they just started watching Ed instead and applauding whenever he incapacitates an opponent. When they realize that they’re the last ones left, they don’t engage anyone, just stand there waiting to see if the last guy can beat their teacher.

Ed nods at them and slowly starts strolling towards the last person willing to fight him, staff in hand. The man looks a bit scared at this point, but tries to use his Alchemy this time around. He turns the dirt between himself and Ed into quicksand. Ed simply takes a running leap at the other man and lands right in front of him, holding his staff to the man’s neck.

He concedes, which prompts Ed’s students to concede as well. No student of his is dumb enough to try and fight him, clearly. Ed takes a bow and goes to walk to the winner section, chatting to some of his future opponents.

 

The following duels are one on one, since now the numbers have been decreased so significantly, so the next time Ed fights, it’s against a very large man who clearly thinks he has the upper hand, seeing as Ed barely used is Alchemy and for these rounds it is mandatory to use Alchemy for attacks. This man has a similar style to Major Andrews, making figurines out of the dirt. However, he makes animals that are more compact dirt than stone, but much faster than Andrews’ figures. They practically flow towards Ed, who just looks at them with his head tilted. Before any of them can reach him, he slams his hands to the ground, making the dirt rise up in a wave that swallows the creatures as well as the Alchemist. The ground flattens out again, and the large man’s head is poking out of it. He can’t get to his circles like that so Ed is declared the winner after only one minute.

*****

“ _The final line-up is: The Strongarm Alchemist, Major Alex Lois Armstrong; The Flame Alchemist, General Roy Mustang; The Iron Blood Alchemist, Brigadier General Basque Grand; and The Silver Alchemist, Major Giolio Comanche, as the representatives of the military. Fighting them will be Megan Barch, Dr Edward Elric, Enzo Chenning, and Maria-Rose Herald. Congratulation to all of you, you have proven yourself quite capable._ ”

*****

 _“Ladies and Gentlemen! The tournament will now begin in earnest! The winners of this quarter-finale will be facing each other in the semi-finals where only two will be left to fight in the finale. The winner will be rewarded with a recommendation for the State Alchemists exam by the Fuhrer himself, or a promotion, as well as a one million cenz_ _prize!_

_The first match will between Dr. Edward Elric and Brigadier General Basque Grand!”_

 

Professor Elric is a very capable professor. Megan is one of the very few of his students who had rated his teaching top notch before even considering rating his looks. He was an attractive man, of course - ’radiant as the sun’, her best friend had called him – but there were plenty attractive people in this world. Besides, she’s a very tall, athletic woman and prefers her men at least as tall and durable.

Megan is also one of the even fewer students who had earned being called by name, which made some of her colleagues angry, but it was hardly her fault they did stupid things within throwing distance of their professor.

His teaching methods were a bit unconventional, but very effective. Every student that seriously wanted to be an Alchemist came out of his lectures a lot smarter in more than simple Alchemical knowledge. Megan had always envied how easy he made Alchemy look, but she knows how much hard work had gone into that skill. She also knows not to ask about whether he could teach her how to transmute without a circle. He hadn’t gotten angry, simply looked at her with eyes beyond his years and said ‘it’s not worth gaining this knowledge as long as you value your soul and the lives of the people you care about’ before telling her the tale of Icarus.

She still hasn’t figured out exactly what he was going on about, but maybe by proving herself capable in this tournament he would finally teach her. She isn’t here to gain the military’s approval, but Professor Elric’s.

None of his students had ever seen him fight before that first round, and everybody with a brain could see that he wasn’t going anywhere near all out. More like twenty percent. Or five. Even so he had swept the floor with the other contestants.

Megan watches with bated breath as Professor Elric strolls to his spot in the ring and narrows her eyes. He might be sure of his abilities, but he isn’t this cocky. He also wouldn’t be the type to go to this type of tournament. He has no interest in becoming a military dog – and neither does she, if she’s being honest – doesn’t really need the money, and could show off for his new students differently. There are clearly ulterior motives at work here, that must have something to do with making the military underestimate him. Maybe if she made it to the finals he would tell her.

The man facing her professor – Grand – has an impressive moustache, is almost twice Elric’s size, and has his circles on full display on metal gauntlets. She can’t make them out, but if she remembers correctly he transmutes cannons and large firearms. She smirks, Elric hates guns.

Both men are clearly sizing each other up, and Grand doesn’t look condescending like most of the State Alchemists had when just looking at the non-State certified Alchemists. Megan uses this time to look at her possible opponents. They won’t know who they’re facing beforehand, as to make sure no preparations can be made. Though of course, whoever goes last will know.

Comanche is an old man, however he is very fast and very lethal. He has also proven he won’t go soft on anyone, though he has clearly decided to stick to blunt objects as to not actually kill someone.

Armstrong is very large, very fast, very strong, and extremely distracting with both his sparkles, booming voice, and looks. She hopes she doesn’t fight him; his six pack will be the death of her.

Now, Mustang. Mustang is unpredictable. He won’t let his flames touch any of his opponents, thankfully. But that also means he’s holding back, which might be enough to get one in on him. He is also very precise, and calculating. He defeated his last opponent by driving him into a corner and making him lose his cool. He would be the most challenging, as he would size her up as effectively as she is doing the same with him. Although, now that she watches him, she can see he is entirely engrossed in Professor Elric. Interesting. He’s hiding it relatively well, looks more like he’s simply checking out an attractive young man, but she has seen him audit Elric’s classes. Maybe if he’s distracted enough by the professor, she’ll gain an edge. Knowing Professor Elric, she might even be able to get him to help her.

 

The gong sounds, ripping her out of her musings and making her snap her head to watch the duel. Elric claps barely a second after the gong sounds, but doesn’t do anything yet. It isn’t to charge his transmutation – he would have kept his hands together – so it must be a pre-emptive move. So he respects this opponent, or his skill at least. His shit-eating grin also mellows into one of respectful challenge. Grand must have notices as well, as his moustache twitches, as if he’s glad to have a challenge, and slams his fists together in a mirror movement of Elric. They both stare at each other for a few seconds before they simultaneously slam their hands into the ground.

 

Unbeknownst to the spectators and the fighters below, the Fuhrer smirks.

*****

Roy decides he dislikes Maria-Rose Herald, though he thinks the Fuhrer will like her. She completely ignores the ‘no permanent damage’ rule and goes straight for the kill. She’s quite skilled too, but ultimately loses because she underestimates his speed and overestimates her own. Instead of conceding after being surrounded by fire, she decides to try to run through it while covered in water, which of course burns her, as hot water is wont to do, and then proceeds to try to complain that he didn’t follow the rules. Foolish girl. He doused the flames immediately, and she’ll be fine after Alphonse heals her, but he can’t help but think she’ll make a great State Alchemist with her disregard for rules unless somebody else breaks them. Perhaps she’ll learn from this, but he doubts it.

After switching his gloves – they got a tiny bit wet – he settles in to watch Major Comanche fight Megan Barch. If he hadn’t known she was one of Ed’s students, he would know it now. She uses her Alchemy with a fluidity she could only have learned from observing Ed. He likes her immediately. She has a glint in her eyes that mean she has sized up all her opponents and is pleased with the outcome. She clearly drew multiple arrays on her fingertips and is utilizing them with precision. She clearly isn’t underestimating her opponent and is a quick study. She uses the quicksand transmutation on of Ed’s opponents try to use on him on Comanche, solidifying the earth around his legs – both of them, smart girl, Comanche can fight just fine on just one – and proceeds to suck the oxygen out of the air around Comanche while he tries to free himself, slowing him down considerably, until he starts to go a bit blue and concedes. The Fuhrer will absolutely love her, she could probably match him with her oxygen manipulation. Roy would have to ask Ed if he was lying when he said he only knows a tiny bit of Flame Alchemy, or if the girl figured out the fine tuning by herself.

She also solidifies her respect for her by looking at Ed with pride instead of at the Fuhrer with cocky victory. Clearly she’s here to earn Ed’s faith, not the military’s. She also seems to have earned it, as Ed smiles at her with pride in his eyes and a conspiratory glint in his eye, glancing at Roy at the same time as Mz. Barch. So it didn’t escape his notice either that she used a stripped down version of the arrays on Roy’s gloves.

The gong sounds a fourth time, signalling the start of Alex’s match against Enzo Chenning. Chenning looks terrified when Alex rips his shirt off – as he should be – though Roy sees Barch eyeing up the Major appreciatively.

It isn’t a long match. Alex is much faster than he looks and Chenning clearly underestimated the large man, trying to get a hit in when the Major’s swing makes a large arc. Good thinking, of course, but not good enough. Trying to transmute a pillar into the Major’s side offset Chenning’s balance, making him trip when Alex sends a wave of dirt at the young man’s feet, ending with Chenning half encased in dirt and Alex sparkling.

Roy chances a look at Bradley and sees him watching Ed and Mz. Barch intently. The two look clueless, but Ed at least must be able to feel the Fuhrer’s eyes on him. Roy looks at the two again, wondering who he will face. Both will be formidable opponents, though Mz. Barch and himself will probably be locked in a battle of wits, more than Alchemy, as they will both be manipulating the same oxygen. He’s glad they decided they wouldn’t have non-certified Alchemists battle each other once the preliminary rounds are over. Barch would be a formidable opponent against himself and Armstrong, but she would lose against Edward, as sure as Alex would lose against Roy. No matter how this plays it, it is sure to be an exhilarating match.

*****

Ed watches Megan size up Roy with the same expression as Roy as he’s sizing up Megan. This would be a tough match for both of them, though he hopes Roy wins, simply because fighting Megan wouldn’t be as big a challenge. She’s fantastic, and he’s incredibly proud, as well as unsure whether or not she will lose against Roy, but most of her skills she has learned from Ed himself.

The gong sounds and neither of them moves. Megan touches her fingertips together as Roy touches his forefinger to his thumb and then Ed feels the charge of both their transmutations. Most people won’t know what’s happening, but Ed knows they’re both trying to out manipulate each other, so to speak. Both narrow their eyes and Roy snaps, at the same time as Megan switches fingertips and touches the ground.

*****

~~~~~

“Well, it was definitely an interesting match.”, Mz. Barch says to Roy ruefully. Now that their match is over they’re allowed to stand together and watch the other two fight. “True. You’re very gifted, I have to say it was a close call.”, Roy replies, and it was. Barch is clearly very smart, having more than one weapon in her arsenal and being able to switch seamlessly.

“I’m flattered. I hope Professor Elric appreciates me using so many possible circles at once. He has often said that one should avoid having more than one circle on your person when you’re unexperienced, so you don’t end up with some garbled mess and a backlash.”, Barch says, with a grin very reminiscent of Ed’s when he knows he ignored advice and got better results because of it. Roy smiles at her and says: “And you used five. You took it as a challenge to simply be experienced enough to do it, didn’t you, Mz. Barch.”

The young woman smiles earnestly and replies: “Megan, please. And of course I did. I learned from the best.”

Before Roy can answer, the gong sounds to announce the last match before the final.

*****

~~~~~ 

The match ends with Edward Elric sitting on top of Major Armstrong with two small dulled blades pressed to the larger man’s throat, crossed just above his adam’s apple. Both men are smiling however, as Elric helps Armstrong up, laughing when the momentum nearly topples the smaller man over.

*****

“ _Ladies and Gentlemen! The time has come! Our finalists: General Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist, Hero of Ishval, and winner of every State Alchemist duel since his certification. And on the other side Dr Edward Elric, Professor at Central University, more PhD’s in Alchemical fields than anyone can remember, and Master in multiple martial arts. This will be a good one, people, so get some refreshments, settle in, and be sure to be ready to watch the match of the century!_ ”

 

There is a half hour break before this match, in order to give the finalists time to recuperate and for the Fuhrer to talk to contestants before everybody leaves after the tournament. Wrath makes his way over to Dr Elric and Mz. Barch, who are surrounded by what must be most of Elric’s students. They see him coming their way – smile firmly in place – and part for him, nudging the girl, though the young man turns to him before even his students. Good battle sense perhaps, or simple luck.

“Dr Elric, Mz. Barch. I wanted to formally congratulate you for making it as far as you have in person. Now I know we said we wouldn’t give recommendations for anyone but the winner, however, Mz. Barch, you have impressed myself and my senior staff. You were a match for our most capable Alchemist. And Dr Elric, you are still in the running, and you clearly haven’t gone all out yet, so I am awaiting a truly spectacular duel to come. Regardless of the outcome of this match, I would like to offer both of you a recommendation for our State Alchemist program.”, Wrath tells both of them. Mz. Barch looks interested, yet unsure – no matter, she’ll come around – while Dr Elric looks as if he expected to win anyway and like this is his due. Perfect. The young man may be friends with Armstrong and Hughes, and a past dalliance with Mustang, but he is arrogant and impressionable. He will have him under his thumb in no time. To sweeten the deal, he adds: “And should you win today, I will count this as your practical exam and you would only have to do the written exam. For someone as accomplished as yourself, that part should be a cake walk.”

The young man looks suitably softened up, so the Fuhrer excuses himself to his seat to watch the match. Because he turns his back, he doesn’t see the young man’s demeanour change to calculating. He also doesn’t hear him tell Mz. Barch that it’s all part of the plan and she is under no circumstances to take anything at face value.

*****

His sources had told him that the Flame Alchemist and Dr Elric had had a dalliance, but broke it off when Mustang couldn’t stay faithful. Expected, and entirely welcome. He had hoped for some residual resentment and wasn’t disappointed. While Mustang followed Elric’s every move with regret in his eyes, Elric didn’t even glance at the man. Only once they were facing each other in the ring did Elric finally look at Mustang. The young man was glaring at a lost looking General Mustang with murder in his eyes.

Once the gong sounded for the last time, Elric started grinning in a way that promised pain, clapped, and started drawing water out of the earth at his feet. Water Alchemy, something they haven’t had in their arsenal since McDougal. Useful and capable as a soldier, and a candidate as well. They hit the jackpot in this young man.

*****

Ed feels kind of bad for sneering at Roy. And for the pain he may or may not – definitely will – inflict. But appearances must be kept and Fuhrer’s must be impressed. So, Ed draws Water out of the ground – harder without Alchehestry, but even more impressive, as it utilizes three arrays at the same time: one to locate the water, one to draw it out, and one to actually control it. If he has a puddle at his feet – which he will very soon – he would only need the last one.

Roy isn’t doing anything yet, playing his part of the surprised Alchemist facing his ex, who just happens to be good at the one type of Alchemy that could completely ruin him. He will have to recover soon, though, so Ed makes sure to keep both eyes on Roy, even as he pulls tendrils of Water out of the ground.

The Flame Alchemist makes a show of shaking his head – to clear it – and steel his gaze with one of determination. He gets ready to snap, and Ed breaks his connection to the ground to make a shield of water in front of his body, making sure to freeze the edges so his hands don’t burn from the boiling water this is sure to create, but not doesn’t freeze the rest – he doesn’t fancy having ice shards fly into his face.

As expected, the fire slams into his shield – Roy isn’t holding back this time – making it dissolve into steam, which Ed quickly turns back into water. He makes a ring of water around himself – almost laughing at himself when it reminds him of a hula hoop – and makes multiple tendrils rise out of it. The grow to about two metres each, and are ten centimetres thick at the base and end in an ice tipped point that could technically stab someone.

Roy realizes quickly that pin point attacks don’t really work against Ed, with his first set of gloves not only drenched, but also cut to ribbons, the hands underneath barely scratched.

He switches his gloves, and Ed doesn’t attack him while he does, instead grinning at the information he now has – he now knows where Roy keeps at least one pair of spare gloves.

Ed does take this time to pull his ring back into a ball in each hand, the easiest position in which to manipulate it at a moment’s notice.

Roy then tries going for force instead of accuracy, to which Ed simply transmutes the water into a very liquid Chimera, that swallows the fireball making both things merge into a very thick ball of steam, blocking Ed from Roy’s view. He’s not terribly worried about sneak attacks, he knows exactly what Roy will do, thanks to his _qi_ , so he changes his ring into two whips, which are very similar to the previous tendrils, just quite a bit larger, making sure Roy can’t see them. He throws one of his whips through the fog, straight at Roy’s pocket, and judging by his expression, manages to get most of his spare gloves wet. He might still have some stuck in his boots, but Roy will never be fast enough to reach them.

The Flame Alchemist snaps again, but Ed simply bats at the fire that comes at him with one of his whips, while throwing the other one at Roy, who in turn dissolves them with fire. They could do this all day, really, but then neither would win. So Ed drops his whips and rolls out of the way, taking the water with him, so that when he stands up, he has a ball of ice in one hand.

Roy looks a bit scared now, and for good reason, since Ed’s next move is to throw circular blades of ice at Roy’s hands, which he quite easily dodges or dissolves, until the last one, as Ed makes sure it goes wide, diverting the older man’s attention. This proves quite fatal for Roy, as Ed uses that distraction to summon as much water as he can below the surface, making it collect under the Flame Alchemist. Roy looks at Ed with narrowed eyes, getting ready to snap, only to be completely drenched from an artificial geyser, curtesy of Ed.

The Flame Alchemy stares at him with a dumbfounded expression and sighs, before holding up both – dripping – hands in a sign of surrender.

Ed grins, dropping his hands to his sides, and looks up at the stage. The Fuhrer smiles benignly, while his rancid _qi_ is a mass of rage. Ed keeps his smile in place, hoping it looks cocky and unsurprised, before turning – resisting the urge to look at Roy – and walking to the medics’ station.

*****

Ed was called up to the stage on which the Fuhrer had sat the entire time as soon as he was cleared by the medics, and was now being formally congratulated, given a written recommendation for the exam, and a check of one million cenz. It was still strange to see Ed look so cocky. Ed might be confident in his skills, but he was never this cocky. It scares Roy to see him that way, as it is a very good act, making Roy shudder to think where – and why - the young man had learned to act that way.

After the official ceremony, all Alchemists are being ushered to the hospital, where the real planning begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1 million cenz equals about 10000 Euros (I'm pretty sure cenz are like yen).
> 
> Comments give me life, feedback (as long as it's constructive, this includes criticism) is always helpful and welcome, so please feel free to leave a comment below, it would make my day!
> 
> Cheers, see you soon <3


	4. New Allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New allies are found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay three chapters in one day, I honestly don't know when chapter 5 will be up, it's super short because I kinda skipped 90% of the actual chapter, but feel like maybe I should put it there, sooo, it might be up tonight, or it might take longer. Really depends on how much work I'll get done in the next few hours of pointless lecture (nobody tell my professor).
> 
> This is again a rather uncharacteristically long chapter. The next one will be either REALLY short, or REAAAALLY long. We'll see.
> 
> Still unbeta'd.
> 
> New list of allies will be added in the Chapter 5 endnotes!  
> Bold dialogue means it's in a different language.
> 
> Cheers, and enjoy!

**August 14 th 1914**

All Alchemists are required to visit the hospital after the duel, but the ones not fighting in the final three rounds were seen to during the duel to prevent backlog at the hospital. The non-certified Alchemists are seen to by regular doctors, but Roy, Alex, Grand, Comanche are seen to by Alphonse Elric personally. Even the military can see how good he is, and they only want the best vets for their dogs. Hughes is allowed to come along as Roy’s best friend and nobody could stop Alphonse from looking after his own brother.

Roy doesn’t trust Grand and Comanche, but Ed seems completely relaxed by their presence, so he decides to trust his judgement. Once they are all in the same large room, being treated for minor injuries, Ed speaks up: “Moustache and Peg Leg, listen up. You have two options. Leave this room once you’re treated, or stay if you want to hear about the real reason this tournament was suggested.”

Roy has to hide his grin at Ed’s complete disregard for titles, and really hopes those two aren’t offended. Comanche looks a bit taken aback, but Grand just raises an eyebrow at the nickname and shrugs. Alphonse on the other hand is shaking his head and admonishes: “Apologies for my brother, Brigadier General Grand and Major Comanche. My brother is bad with names and is generally not very polite. He is right, though. We both have deemed you trustworthy, but it is your choice whether you would like to remain in ignorance, or learn the truth of this country and the military you serve in. You may of course listen and then choose to ignore our words, as long as you don’t repeat them.”

Roy already knows the answer. He may not trust them, but he actually quite likes and respects both Alchemists. They are curious men and as Alchemists would never turn down the opportunity to learn something new. Ed and Alphonse must know this too, but chose to give them a way out anyway.

“Staying will get us killed eventually, won’t it.”, Grand says, not moving to get up. Ed grins and replies: “Probably, but so will leaving.”

Comanche nods and says: “Well, let’s hear it then.” Roy looks at Ed for one last confirmation that he can trust these people and gets it in form of a nod.

Taking a deep breath, Roy begins: “Gentlemen, this will be hard to hear and harder to believe, but I ask you to have an open mind and not immediately dismiss my words. Firstly, Basque, I will ask you this: do you suspect that the senior staff is holding meetings you are not a part of? Grumman and I are sure of it, though we weren’t certain whether you were invited or not. I don’t know how Ed here determined your trustworthiness, but I trust his judgement.”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Remember two months ago, one of the Generals said something along the lines of ‘like we discussed last time’ about a topic we had definitely never discussed, only to find himself suddenly demoted and shipped to the North for the next meeting?”, Grand replies. Roy nods at this and says: “Yes, that was one of the more obvious giveaways.”

Grand’s nostrils flare then and adds: “I started feeling very excluded from all decisions as soon as I was once asked if I would like to be immortal and answered ‘no’. I used to be in charge of the State Alchemist’s program if you recall, but that day I found myself suddenly relieved of that position.” Roy had forgotten about that, but suddenly a puzzle piece fits.

“They gave it to a paper pusher.”, Grand continues, adding: “Is that what you think they’re discussing when we’re not there? How to become immortal?”

“It had crossed my mind. I will let the Elrics explain some more later, but the only way to gain immortality is by taking other people’s lives. You cannot gain life without sacrificing some.”, Roy replies.

Comanche, who is generally a very quiet individual, says: “Ishval.”

Roy sighs, about to continue, but Maes thankfully beats him to it: “Among other events. There have been a lot of border skirmishes, if you recall, since Amestris was founded. We could explain it to you, but it’s easier to show you. I made this discovery a while back, but had to consult an Alchemist to be sure, and we are very sure at this point.”

Maes pulls out a map with the marked points for all the bloodshed and the lines connecting them. Both Alchemists gasp, and Grand says: “You can’t be serious. A nation-wide human transmutation? What are they trying to do? Use all the lives in this country to become immortal?”

Ed finally gives his two cenz: “Something like that. We think they’re making a giant Philosopher’s Stone. No clue why they would need that much power, but we’re hoping we’ll get that info soon.”

Grand looks confused and asks: “I thought the Philosopher’s Stone was a myth. Now you tell me they’re real and you need human transmutation and human sacrifices to make one?”

Even Comanche looks outraged. Ed sorrowfully replies: “Yes. I learned that from dear old dad. If you’re willing to put your lives on the line to stop this ploy, I will let him explain that to you next time we meet. He’s kind of the expert in that field. You see, he survived the fall of Xerxes.”

This is new information for everybody in the room. Hughes voices everybody’s thoughts: “Are you saying your father is immortal?”

Alphonse looks rueful and replies: “Not quite. He _is_ a Philosopher’s Stone. He never gave us the full story, just said he left us because he had to stop the Dwarf in the Flask, but he never said what his plan was, or why he was back. I expect he’ll have more to say once we inform him that we have some sort of idea about what’s going on.”

Armstrong has been entirely silent for the entire exchange, most of the information old news to him, but at that he starts crying: “You thought your father had abandoned you, but he was actually trying to save Amestris! And after he had seen all of this horror! - ”

After that Roy tunes him out, best not to get too caught up in his emotions, or he might start trying to hug you.

“Roy. We need to decide on how to go about organizing the next meeting. I don’t want to have to explain everything five times. Al and I also would like to suggest bringing in some more non-military forces, people we know and trust. There is also some information that is extremely sensitive.”, Ed interjects into Armstrong’s rambling.

Their new friends both understand what Ed is trying to say. This is their last chance to back out. Grand squares his shoulders and says: “I’ll stay.”, and Comanche nods in agreement.

Ed looks like the two Alchemists had earned his respect and says: “Good. Well then, if everybody will sit, this is gonna suck.”

*****

Alphonse reads the _qi_ of their companions, and finds nothing suspicious. It was a risky move. They weren’t 100 percent certain the two Alchemists would be on their side, but it was a fair bet that they weren’t in on the scheme. Sensing the horror and confusion of their _qi_ made them sure that these two are trustworthy.

So Ed explains. He catches them up on the last meeting as quickly as possible, on who is with them and who might be in on it. The last information they give is for everybody: “Fuhrer Kind Bradley is not human.”

General Mustang and Mr. Hughes already know this, but Major Armstrong and the two Alchemists do not. Their reaction is as expected. Full of denial, but also a grudging acceptance that it isn’t as impossible as they say it is.

“One last thing. There is one person who can alchemically alter their appearance to look like _anyone_. Al and I can sense them, but you can’t. It would take too long to explain right now, but you need to make sure you aren’t speaking to an impostor. Agree on some sort of signal. That person is the one who shot Hughes, while looking like his wife. Be careful.”

They don’t even seem shocked about that, like nothing can surprise them anymore.

Al adds: “All of this will be explained more thoroughly when we have everybody together. Speaking of everybody, there are some people we want to bring into this. Our Alchemy teacher and her husband, our father – obviously – and maybe the Rockbells. I would rather not involve them, however Winry and her grandmother are doctors who lost their family in the Ishvalan war. They will want to help and we can’t keep this from them. Our dad, of course, needs to be brought into the fold, he has all the information. I personally would also suggest asking May if she wants to be a part of this. She can sense _qi_ as well and is an excellent fighter, as far as I know.”

Ed nods, clearly unhappy about bringing people into this, even though they have little choice at this point. He then adds: “And Megan. I like her. She’s good. She’s one of my students, and as of today my best and favourite student. It wouldn’t be suspicious for her to be seen with me.”

General Mustang concludes the meeting by saying: “All communication will be through ranking officers. If you trust your team, bring them up to speed. Myself and Grand can be seen together for obvious reasons, and Alex and Comanche can be seen with us too, as we are all certified. Hughes is my best friend and they know it, so he can talk to me and to Alex, as his superior. Edward and Alphonse can speak to Hughes because they’re friends from when Maes got shot, they know the Armstrong’s, meaning Alex is a possibility, and technically I can be seen with them, as I took Ed to the last military ball, however we want them to think that we broke up because I cheated, so it’s probably best if we avoid that. We will contact you as soon as we have a meeting point. Good luck to all of you.”

*****

Everybody leaves and it’s just Ed and Roy in the hospital room. Roy is unhappy and Ed knows it. He knows Roy didn’t want to involve civilians, but had no choice in the matter. Ed doesn’t want to involve others either, but there isn’t much that can be done at this point. “Roy, we’ll get through this. I don’t like it either, but these people are skilled and know what they’re getting into.”, Ed says, knowing it probably won’t do much in lifting Roy’s mood.

The older man’s shoulders slump and he says: “I know, Ed. I just hate that it’s come to this.”

Ed doesn’t have an answer for that, so he just walks up to Roy and hugs him. Roy seems surprised, Ed not usually being one to show affection quite so obviously, but hugs him back tightly. He murmurs into Ed’s shoulder: “All I want to do is sit in my library with you in silence.”

Ed laughs and replies: “Then let’s go do that.”

*****

**October 20 th 1914**

Olivier Mira Armstrong keeps expecting _something_ out of the ordinary to happen, but all was quiet for two months. Then everything went crazy within a week.

First, an inhuman monster got into her basement, and nothing would kill it. She was glad that she had been filled in on all the madness, or she would have been much more surprised and would have thought it must be some Drachman spy. As it was, she knew this was homemade, and covered it in fuel tank and threw it off the wall. Upon further investigation she found out it was digging a tunnel. She opted not to send her men into it, already knowing it must be the circle for the nation wide circle. Just to be sure, she filled the hole with concrete. Perhaps that would disrupt the cursed circle.

She had – uncharacteristically optimistically – thought that was the end of that, but soon after that General Raven showed up with Kimblee of all people. She remembered Mustang speculating that Raven might be on their side, but she herself doubted it, if he was going to show up at her wall with the likes of Kimblee when she _knew_ bloodshed had to be imminent for the Fuhrer’s plans.

She had thought perhaps she could get some information out of the man. While she wasn’t one to utilize her feminine charms on people, she thought perhaps he would approach her to join the senior staff in Central. And she was correct. He spoke of immortality and she knew he was in on the scheme. She played her part well, getting an invite to join a secret meeting in Central Command in two weeks’ time. She was asked to put the monster back into its hole – something she really didn’t want to do, but complied anyway – and told to stay out of the tunnel. She let the General and Kimblee leave, opting to get the information to Mustang when she set out to Central.

Of course, as soon as she got a tiny bit too comfortable, Drachma just _had_ to attack the wall. She knew the bloodcrest would be formed no matter what she did – either they lost or the Drachmans would. The foreign forces were decimated within two hours. It had to be Raven and Kimblee’s work and she was infuriated. Using her strength against her was smart, but it still pissed her off.

Knowing she had no choice but to travel to Central, she packed her best swords and started the long trip to the homeland.

***** 

**October 25 th 1914**

Roy was talking to Hughes in the cafeteria when Major Armstrong walked past their table, clapping him on the shoulder and congratulating him on being the runner up. He didn’t stay long, and once he was gone, Roy found a small note laying in his lap.

 

_Mustang,_

_Monster came through Briggs, digging a tunnel (circle?)._

_Raven and Kimblee came to visit, made me put the thing back and invited me to Central to join secret meeting to discuss immortality._

_Bloodcrest in Briggs completed, Drachma attack, no choice but to engage._

_O.M. Armstrong_

“Bad news, Roy?”, Maes asks quietly. Roy shakes his head and says: “No, no. I’m just upset the little runt beat me.”, passing his best friend the note under the table. Maes nods and says: “Yeah, that was pretty funny. I _did_ tell you the kid was gifted.”

“At healing wounds, maybe. How was I supposed to know the kid would use the one thing that can make me entirely useless.”, Roy tells Maes, who simply laughs at him.

Roy is still immensely impressed with Ed’s use of Water Alchemy. As a matter of fact, the entire senior staff is still impressed, gushing about him in every staff meeting so far, wondering when the kid will sit the exam.

They must be pretty happy to know there is someone out there who – to their knowledge – can still be influenced to side with them against Roy. Joke’s on them, really.

“Well, you did go to the ball with him, I thought you would know!”, Maes says, setting up a discussion they were just waiting to have publicly. Roy puts on his best scowl and says: “Thanks for that, by the way. That crashed and burned horrifically. Frankly, I hope he doesn’t sign up, I don’t want to have to see him all the time.”

Making the senior staff think Ed might be a scorned ex would work in their favour. If Ed already hated Roy, it would be easy to turn him to their side.

“Well, Roy, you really should have made it more clear you weren't planning on being exclusive.”, Maes says disapprovingly. Roy and Ed hadn’t so much as kissed, but it was the best excuse they could come up with.

“Yeah, well...”, Roy drifts off, picking at the horrible canteen food.

*****

**October 30 th 1914**

Ed is walking through Central with Megan, having a chat about her form, when he senses distress before hearing shouts and something that sounds suspiciously like a fight. He tells Megan to go find some military personnel and sprints toward the fight. What he sees is Comanche struggling against a tall, muscular man with white hair, brown skin, an x-shaped scar on his face, and sunglasses. It’s late, late enough for it to be too dark for sunglasses. Ed has his suspicions as to the man’s heritage, though he is clearly using Alchemy, an art generally shunned by Ishvalans.

First he shouts: “Hey, you! Stop this, now!”, in Amestrian, turning the man’s attention away from Comanche, who manages to land a blow, hitting the glasses off the tall man’s face. Red eyes, as expected. Angry red eyes, at being distracted. The man starts attacking Comanche again, with more vigour this time, and Ed can’t have that. The old man might be skilled, but his speed will not help him against an equally fast, yet much younger opponent.

“ **Nameless, what are you trying to accomplish.** ”, Ed says in Ishvalan, loud enough for the man to hear, but quiet enough to be ignored, should he wish to. As hoped, the familiar tongue stops the man in his tracks. Ed signals to Comanche that he should retreat, yet the man is as stubborn as is to be expected, and simply takes a few steps back.

“ **Who are you, boy.** ”, the man says, his _qi_ dimmed from the aggression of before, but there is an underlying anger in there that Ed knows too well, has felt in every Ishvalan he has ever come across, has felt when the war took Winry’s family.

“ **Does it matter? Why have you turned to this unholy art? Why have you forsaken your name?** ”, Ed says, hoping to stall for time. He doesn’t want to fight this man. The guy turned his grief into beef, and while Ed knows that feeling all too well, he can’t have innocent people dying because of it.

“ **How do you know so much about my culture? You are an Amestrian brat. Stay out of this and I will not harm you.** ”, the man says. The word _brat_ irks Ed, but he will let it slide for now.

“ **My name is Dr Edward Elric, I am a professor at Central University with multiple PhDs. One of them is Foreign Languages and Culture. This includes Ishval. I don’t claim to know everything, but I know enough. Leave this man be and if you would rather not face the military right now, follow me.** ”, Ed replies, turning on his heel and walking away. It seems like a very trusting move, but the man’s _qi_ shows interest, but also the intent to attack once Ed’s back is turned. Waiting for his opponent to strike, Ed shifts his weight onto his right leg, ready to intercept the attack with his Automail leg.

His foot is caught by the man – not surprising, really – and an Alchemical charge goes off. Nothing happens and both men look at each other in confusion. “ **What were you trying to do just then, Nameless?** ”, Ed asks in genuine curiosity. The man looks taken aback at the lack of fear in Ed’s expression. “ **Why does my Alchemy not work on you?** ”, the man asks, less curious and more angry. Ed grins – the man’s Alchemy is clearly targeted towards flesh.

“ **You should have just followed me when I first asked. Let go of my foot and we can be on our way. You better hurry, they’re not far now.** ”, Ed tells the man, hearing and sensing the large group of people approaching. The man seems to concede and follows Ed when he takes off at a leisurely speed. Then Ed remembers that the man probably needs his glasses back. Luckily for him, Ed has a pair in his pocket and hands them to the man, before saying: “ **Best not speak Ishvalan, Nameless. Put on the glasses and take off your coat. Comanche trusts my judgement and will probably give them false directions, but just to be sure.** ”

The man seems to be extremely confused at Ed’s completely relaxed state and willingness to help a man who presumably just tried to kill his friend.

“Why are you helping me?”, the man asks, switching to Amestrian. Ed responds: “Because I want my friends to stay alive and you are clearly on a path of vengeance. It will get you nowhere. I know some Ishvalans out by the city borders. It’s a slum, sadly, but one of your people taught me when I told him I want to learn so I can help right some of the wrongs this country has done you. I witnessed a lot of it first-hand. You see, I grew up in a small village called Resembool. It’s right next to Ishval. We all lost a lot to this war, on both sides. You wanted to know why your Alchemy didn’t work? Well, it’s because my leg is a prosthesis.”

“I know Resembool. It was the closest town that had a train station.”, the Nameless man replies. At a nod from Ed, he then continues: “Some of our children were hiding there when the war began.”

Ed remembers playing with children in his basement, when his father was still around. They looked strange to him, back then. He sometimes would ask them if they were sick because their hair was so white.

“We had a couple called Jemma and Hasan hiding in our basement when I was little. I have no idea what happened to them, one day my parents just said they were somewhere better than a smelly basement. I don’t know if soldiers got to them or if my parents managed to send them somewhere safer. I hope it’s the latter, they were really nice.”, Ed reminisces, feeling the Nameless man’s _qi_ soften.

“If you have love for my people, why do you defend the State Alchemists that killed them?”, the man asks, getting riled up again. Ed smiles ruefully: “Because some of them are good people who were forced to do bad things, or thought they were doing the right thing, or were simply too scared to do anything but defend themselves from their perceived enemies. The ones I hate, that you should hate, are the one’s giving the orders, not the people fighting.”

The man seems to consider this, but presses on: “They still deserve to pay for the crimes they have committed.”, and Ed does agree. To a point. He replies: “And they will. But not in blood. Violence breeds more violence. The ones that truly want a better world will help rebuilt what they helped break. And the ones that don’t, well, they will get what’s coming to them, one way or another. It’s good I met you, really, we need more Ishvalans on our team, we only have one, and he can hardly speak for all of you.”

“What team, what are you talking about?”, the man asks Ed, his _qi_ alarmed. Ed elaborates: “I can’t say just yet. Too many ears. I promise, once we’re at the city limits, I will tell you. But there’s someone I want you to meet first.”

***** 

“You did _what_?!”, Alphonse asks his brother when he comes home and recounts the tale of stopping the probably murder of Comanche and then making friends with the would be murderer.

“I brought him to that slum where I learned Ishvalan and apparently the guy I learned from was the man’s superior! Funny how this stuff happens, isn’t it?”, Ed replies, looking really proud of himself. “Brother, that was reckless.”, Al says.

Ed doesn’t look any less proud of himself, so Al drops it and suggests they go out to find something for dinner.

***** 

**November 4 th 1914**

Ed, Al, and May are peacefully walking along one of Centrals busier streets when they spot a young man with a ponytail lying by the side of the road. Concerned, the group walks over, only for May to say: “What is _he_ doing here.”, with uncharacteristic malice in her voice.

“Why? Who is that?”, Al asks. May scowls deeply and replies: “That is my half-brother, Ling Yao.” This is news to both Elrics. Al, ever the compassionate one, says: “Well then we better get him off the street. Don’t want authorities picking him up.”

Grumbling, May watched Ed and Al lift Ling by the armpits and steer him back to their apartment. Once they get some food into him – if _some_ means _all they have_ – the young man grins and thanks them profusely, only to then scowl at May before saying: “May Chang, what a surprise.”

At this point, Ed’s had enough, so he says: “Alright, you two, what’s going on?” May stays silent, but looks slightly ashamed. Ling has no such qualms and says: “I am Ling Yao, a prince of Xing. And May Chang here is a princess.”

Silence. Then: “ _What_?!”, from both Elrics in unison. Then they both burst into giggles because the prince of Xing just mooched food off of them and the princess is dating Al. It’s too much and they don’t stop laughing until they hear: “Young Lord!”, from their window.

***** 

Alphonse isn’t entirely certain if he should step in when a masked woman – judging by her voice – attacks his girlfriend. Every woman he has ever met has told him don’t interfere when two women are fighting, unless it looks like somebody will be killed and even then be prepared to be attacked by two angry women. It certainly looks as if both women are trying to kill or at least maim each other, but Ling chuckles while another masked figure slides into the room and confusedly stares around the room.

Ling calmly says: “ **Lan Fan, stand down**.”, in Xingan, to which the young woman stops immediately, bowing, while May stops just short of taking the girl’s arm off. “ **Young Lord, what is the meaning of this**.”, the as yet unidentifiable masked figure says, though it sounds like an old man. “Fu, Lan Fan, these are Edward and Alphonse Elric. They have been gracious enough to invite me to their home when they found me passed out from starvation on the street.”, Ling tells the masked figures, switching to Amestrian. “ **Lan Fan, Fu, it is a pleasure to meet you, though I would prefer if you didn’t attack my brother’s boyfriend in our home.** ”, Ed replies in Xingan, ever the blunt one.

The masked figures’ surprise is evident in their _qi_. Al decides to join in on the fun: “ **Really, you should have felt no malicious intent. Please do refrain from attacking each other, I rather like this apartment and would hate to have to move.** ”

“You ever told me you were fluent!”, May interjects. She had painstakingly learned Amestrian before she left Xing and had said very embarrassing things to Alphonse in Xingan, thinking he didn’t understand. “ **I think you’re brighter than the sun as well, my dear.** ”, Al says to her, mirroring her sentiment from a few months ago, making her blush.

Ling looks between them before saying: “Well this has been fun, but we have to go. I have a mythical stone to find.”, making Ed, Al and May stare at him. Ed recovers first and says: “No you don’t. Don’t look for the stone. No matter what you need it for, it isn’t worth it.”

Ling’s expression darkens: “I need it to save my clan.” May looks at her brother more warmly than she has done so far, and says: “I understand, Ling Yao. But I have been here far longer than you have. I know the Alchemy of this land. I know the price for the Stone. Do you think I wouldn’t have gotten one and run home already if it was possible?”

“I heard you left to expand your knowledge.”, Ling says, to which May replies: “I did. But news reached me of father’s health. I immediately asked Alphonse to tell me everything he knew about immortality. The stone, it can only be made by making multiple human sacrifices. I have been searching for an alternative ever since.”, which Al knew of course, as he had been the one to help her, though he hadn’t known what that research had been for.

“Our clans will die, May Chang.”, Ling replies. May steels her resolve and says: “Not if we ally each other. I will let you have your throne and help you find a way to get it _without_ the Stone. All I ask in return is that you make sure my clan survives. I have no desire to become empress, as I will not be allowed to take a foreign man as my husband and I don’t want to damn the relationship I have gained before it has even had a chance to bloom.”

The words touch Al. He hadn’t known all that she was giving up to be with him.

Ling clearly considers this offer, and after a few very long moments replies: “I will take your offer, May Chang.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, my friends!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this!
> 
> Again, please feel free to comment, give feedback, and make my day in the process! <3


	5. The Second Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With all allies brought into the fold, a meeting is held. Pasts are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dears! I just realized the deadline is Nov. 19th, so I have been rushing for no reason.  
> Regardless, most, if not all of this story will be up within the next six hours.
> 
> This Chapter isn't very long, and the ~~~~~ is where I could technically still add stuff, but probably won't because I'd just be telling you 90% what happens in canon and the other 10% is stuff that you will read in the next few chapters anyway. If you want to read Hohenheim talking about his past, the Homunculi's plans, and the future plan (that you will be reading about in Ch. 7 anyway), let me know, otherwise this will just stay blank.
> 
> There's a new Allies List in the End Notes, this is unbeta'd, I love you all, please enjoy!

**November 20 th 1914**

All Roy was given was coordinates, a time, and a suggestion to dress in civilian clothes. He knew the meeting was to be outside of city limits, but walking into the Ishvalan slum was certainly unexpected. A good move, of course, as nobody would suspect a bunch of military officials to just walk into an Ishvalan camp to have a chat.

Sitting in a large tent with Ishvalans, military personnel and civilians was by far the most uncomfortable situation he had ever been in, and that was saying quite a lot. There were new faces, though that was to be expected. Apart from a surprising amount of Ishvalans glaring at anyone in military blue, there was a man he was quite certain Hughes was trying to catch, who had been killing State Alchemists. There was a man who could only be Ed and Al’s father – he looked exactly like Edward, it was truly uncanny – surrounded by a group of people that he thinks he might have seen before, but couldn’t place, though Dr Marcoh was among them to Roy’s surprise. There was also a group of people who might have been Xingan, a woman with dreadlocks with a man with the same stature as Armstrong, but with less sparkle, and who Roy recognizes as Winry and Pinako Rockbell.

Only a second after he enters the tent, multiple heads turn in his directions and some of them look very unfriendly. The Ishvalans he had expected, but Ed’s father, the woman who must be his Teacher, and Pinako all look surprisingly unfriendly. Seeing the unfriendly stares, Hughes leans to Roy and stage whispers: “Oh dear I think they know about you and Ed.”, making Alphonse snicker and Edward glare at his brother.

Edward’s father stands up and says: “This concludes everybody. Some introductions are in order, I think. I am Van Hohenheim, Edward and Alphonse’s father. This lovely woman here is Izumi Curtis, the boys’ Teacher, and her husband, Sig Curtis. I have brought with me Dr Marcoh, and some individuals that are more difficult to explain, so let’s call him Greed and his friends. He loves introducing himself, so I’ll leave that to him. Now here are May Chang, Alphonse’s girlfriend and Princess of Xing. With her are Ling Yao, Prince of Xing and his bodyguards, Lan Fan and Fu. And these two lovely ladies here are Winry and Pinako Rockbell. The rest of us have introduced ourselves already, but you are welcome to ask anybody their names, though I know to Ishvalans their name is sacred and they may not want to tell you.”

Hohenheim pauses and lets that information sink in. Once the whispers have subsided he continues: “Now everybody here should be caught up on what was discussed at the last meeting, so I shall begin with my tale. I ask you not to interrupt me, there will be plenty of time for discussion later. Now, I am one of two people who walked out of Xerxes after the fall. I travelled East, bringing Alchehestry to the country of Xing. The other is a man who now goes by the name of Father. He went west to establish Amestris with one goal in mind. To open a gate to swallow God.”

This makes everybody break out in whispers and shouted questions, even though the man had asked not to be interrupted. Once the assembled crowd calms down again, he continues: “I know this is all very confusing and I promise to elaborate later, but right now there are more important things to discuss.

This other man is not a man at all. He is a Homunculus in human skin. My skin to be exact. He looks exactly like me, though his voice is different, as is his demeanour. Really, it’s very easy to tell us apart, and I doubt he will try to impersonate me. However, this man cannot be killed by conventional means. While I am a Philosopher’s Stone and will eventually die, he has amassed Philosopher’s Stones under this country by centuries of slaughter and will not run out anytime soon. This means they will have to be destroyed first. Dr Marcoh knows how to destroy them and will distribute an array to all Alchemists. Father intends to do to Amestris what he did to Xerxes all that time ago, but on a much larger scale. Now, the plan, as far as I know, is thus: …”

~~~~~

Van Hohenheim left no detail out, no matter how disturbing, and talked over the whispers that broke out every now and then. Once he had finished his explanation, he answered every question he could. What exactly had happened in Xerxes, what exactly is a Homunculus and why are they so dangerous – though Greed helpfully had one of his companions chop off his head and grinned as it regrew – to whether or not the Elrics’ talent was hereditary. The last question of course made Ed rather angry, explaining that it was a lot of hard work, and sacrifice, which lead to a discussion about the gate.

Edward, Alphonse, Izumi, and Hohenheim became rather quiet at that. It wasn’t until the discussion had quieted down, that they devised a plan for the months leading up to The Promised Day and for the day itself. There would be further meetings, but likely none where everybody was assembled like this, or it would arouse suspicion.

Only after everybody had gone their separate ways, did Roy ask: “So, I didn’t want to ask you this in front of everybody, but I’m curious. How did you get your bodies back?”

 

Tense silence fills the tent, as the three blondes look at each other. It’s suddenly gone in an instant when Ed sighs and nods, before saying: “It’s a really long story, are you sure you want to know?”

Roy nods, knowing that no matter how terrible the tale, the outcome had allowed him to have the best time of his life. Edward sits down, though Alphonse and Hohenheim leave the tent, and Roy follows Ed’s lead.

The younger man starts his story: “Alright, so a soul can’t stay in a foreign container forever. Eventually, it will be rejected. It can take seconds; it can take years. A few years ago I woke up during the night, to find Al’s _qi_ gone. At this point, our father had returned, though I was avoiding him. I punched him in the face the first time I saw him come through the door, so he wasn’t really eager to put himself in my path anyway. But that night, with Al suddenly gone, I panicked. For the first time since he left, I found myself wishing he’d be there, and I hadn’t even called out to him, he was by the door within a few seconds. He must have felt it too, or at least the way my _qi_ changed, but I suspect the former because he barely looked at me, just ran to Al’s armour and checked the blood seal – it bonds the soul to the object and if it’s broken, the soul goes back to the gate – which would have been my first instinct anyway, but he got there first. It was still intact, so we had no idea where he had gone. He was right back in the armour after maybe a minute, completely disoriented, and said he had seen his body, and that it was still intact – if completely atrophied. We spent weeks trying to figure out how to get his body back from there. Hohenheim offered just using the Philosopher’s Stone inside him, since he still had enough life left in him to get him back and survive, so he could ‘ _act like a father for once_ ’, but we both hated that idea because we’d still be using somebody’s life force.

All was well for a good two months of arguing and research, but then Al started suddenly losing consciousness more often and for longer periods, so we started panicking. I said I could just give up my Alchemy, but obviously neither Al nor Hohenheim were fans of that idea. We kept arguing about it, and at some point Al didn’t regain consciousness for a good fifteen minutes, and I started panicking. Hohenheim left the room to go look for some book or other, and I did the only thing I could think of, and opened the gate. I offered Truth my Alchemy, but just as they were about to take it, Hohenheim appeared next to me. This surprised Truth, apparently, because they didn’t take my gate, just stared at Hohenheim. They stared at each other while Al was telling us both to not do something incredibly stupid, and I was yelling at Hohenheim to let me finish what I came here for. I don’t know what exactly happened next, but I woke up back in the study, alone. Time passes strangely in that place, so I don’t know how long they were actually there, but they both rematerialized after a minute, Al entirely whole and angry looking, Hohenheim looking perfectly fine. I was so happy to see Al having any sort of expression that I didn’t notice my arm materializing until the sound of the Automail crashing to the floor startled me.

I was pretty angry at Hohenheim for taking the decision from me, and so was Al, but I couldn’t stay mad for very long because Al was _whole_ , something I hadn’t managed to do by myself. While I was staring at my arm – also only skin and bones at this point – Hohenheim said ‘ _It didn’t let me bring your leg back too, said you opened the gate and it wouldn’t let you go without at least keeping the original sacrifice for the knowledge, no matter what I offered him._ ’, and here we are. I honestly don’t care about my leg never coming back, I’m fine without it, and I wouldn’t have cared about my arm much either, but Al’s whole and _healthy_ now, and I couldn’t stay mad at Hohenheim about it. We’ll never be close, but I rarely feel like punching him now.”

Roy listens to the whole explanation and does his best not to interrupt, though a few gasps escape him every now and then. At the end of Edward’s tale, Roy wordlessly hugs him. Only after releasing the younger man, does Roy say: “Thank you for telling me. And for the record, I am really glad your father got Alphonse’s body back, or Hughes might never have survived, and I never would have met you. Well, again, at least.”

Ed smiles, and it’s like the sun coming out of the clouds. Roy really wants to kiss that smile, but before he gets to move more than a centimetre, Alphonse walks back into the tent, looking much more innocent than is natural, and says: “I think it’s time to go home, don’t you think, brother?”

*****

The meeting was long and exhausting. Roy is glad to be home and pours himself a stiff drink. It’s a lot to take in. Edward’s father was made into a Philosopher’s Stone against his will or knowledge, Xerxes’ King had intended to sacrifice the entire population of his country to gain immortality, the Dwarf in the Flask – now Father – had used it to gain a body of his own and a Philosopher’s Stone to sustain him, then made even more by literally founding a country and slaughtering people in the name of expanding it. Not only that, they had a Homunculus on their side who basically in charge of a bunch of Human-Animal Chimeras that had been created in the Fifth Laboratory. Which meant there was a Circle for Central, and one for the entire country.

On top of that, he finally knew how Ed and Al got their bodies back and why Edward was suddenly much warmer to his father than he had been. Still not very warm, but he at least acknowledges that the man is indeed his father. The man truly was a miracle worker, fixing Izumi Curtis’ insides like that, though it had startled everybody in the room and earned him a punch in the face by Sig Curtis.

Having Olivier on the inside certainly is a blessing, though it’s a precarious position, as the senior staff is clearly not entirely sure of her loyalties, as they’re still not letting her in on all the details.

Though there was one happy moment in this whole thing. The State-Alchemist killer, known as Scar, was given a new name. He was now known as Faraj. While Roy doesn’t know the meaning behind the name, everybody who understood was pleased for the man, including Ed.

It’s a shame Ed and Roy have to be discreet. The library he’s sitting in is so empty without the blonde in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the new list of allies! Not everybody has been mentioned by name, and might not have a huge roll in future chapters either, but these people are involved, just more in the background.
> 
> Team Ed:  
> Edward Elric  
> Alphonse Elric  
> Izumi Curtis  
> Sig Curtis (+ Mason)  
> Winry Rockbell  
> Pinako Rockbell  
> Hohenheim  
> Paninya  
> May Chang  
> Ling Yao (+ Fu, LanFan)  
> Greed (+ Chimeras)  
> Scar/Faraj  
> Megan Barch
> 
> Independents:  
> Dr Marcoh  
> Brigadier General Basque Grand  
> Major Giolio Comanche
> 
> Team Mustang:  
> General Roy Mustang  
> Major Riza Hawkeye  
> Second Lieutenant Kain Fuery  
> First Lieutenant Vato Falman  
> Captain Jean Havoc  
> Captain Heymans Breda  
> Madam Christmas + girls
> 
> Team Hughes:  
> Brigadier General Maes Hughes  
> Sergeant Heathcliff Erbe  
> Second Lieutenant Tara Compton  
> Captain Focker  
> First Lieutenant Jeanne Curie
> 
> Team Grumman:  
> General Grumman  
> Second Lieutenant Rebecca Catalina  
> Sergeant Charlie Day  
> Sergeant Richard Gronn  
> Second Lieutenant Alexandre Penn
> 
> Team Briggs:  
> Major General Olivier Mira Armstrong  
> Major Faris Miles  
> Captain Grant Buccaneer  
> Second Lieutenant Alexander Henschel  
> Sergeant James Karley  
> Sergeant Nathan Smith
> 
> Team Armstrong:  
> Major Alex Lois Armstrong  
> Sergeant Denny Brosh  
> Second Lieutenant Maria Ross


	6. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here we are again, half an hour later.
> 
> Still unbeta'd, enjoy!

**November 1914 to March 1915**

Ed’s students think he’s paranoid when he stresses the importance of evasive manoeuvres like Faraj’s signature ‘destroy the ground’ move. Megan knows the truth so she studies up like crazy, earning that A+ she’s going to get at the end of this if they all live to see the exams. He wishes he could tell them all to leave Amestris entirely, but he can’t. He can’t wait to get to Roy’s after class. After all, he has a very special present to give him.

*****

Hohenheim has been in Central for all of two months and he already has a chronic headache. Edward is in a relationship with a man nearly a decade older than him, Alphonse is dating a Xingan princess, and another Xingan royal is running around with his body guards, who constantly look at him like he is a god. He _did_ found their Alchehestry, but it’s getting on his nerves. If that wasn’t enough, one of the Dwarf’s Homunculi keeps flirting with the Xingan crown prince, and keeps calling Hohenheim ‘ _dad_ ’ because ‘ _you look like my old man and act like an actual father and I want a father_ ’. He’s waiting for this entire thing to blow up in his face, but so far Ling seems flattered and not _un_ interested. Maybe Greed will go to Xing once this is over and Ling can have his throne. After all, May seems to be determined to stay wherever Alphonse is, as long as Ling promises to take care of her clan.

Thankfully he’s about to set out with Faraj to plant the points for the reverse circle. The man may be very serious, but they bonded easily over the genocide of their respective people. 

*****

They set up a sparring area near the Ishvalan slum, practicing as often as possible and giving each other pointers on various attacks from possible foes. While it made the Ishvalans very uncomfortable to be around so many State Alchemists and soldiers, they gradually realized that they had the best advice on facing the military. The Alchemists shared the specialties of their opponents and the best ways to avoid them. The soldiers taught the Ishvalans how to use weaponry, if necessary. The Ishvalan monks were highly skilled in hand-to-hand and teamed up with the Elrics, their teacher, and the Xingans to teach each other and others how to defend themselves. Megan managed to recruit a few of Ed’s better students and they received additional Alchemy lessons from any Alchemist in the group. Alphonse, Winry and all other doctors taught first aid and more advanced procedures to anyone willing to learn. All in all, they felt as prepared as they could possibly be. Only time would tell if it was enough.

*****

“Ed is that you?”, Roy asks when he hears his front door open. The affirmative answer comes within moments and Roy can hear Ed slowly walking towards the library Roy has holed himself up in. He knows it’s really Edward by the slightly mismatched steps.

“Long day?”, Roy asks his lover when the young man practically drags himself through the door and all but slumps onto the sofa Roy is sitting on. “Yeah. My kids think I’m being paranoid, my dad’s in town, Greed keeps calling my father ‘dad’, which is super weird, and Greed and Ling keep flirting and it’s giving me a headache.” Seeing a Homunculus flirt with a crown prince of Xing is a bit jarring for everybody, but it must be irritating to have them around all the time.

“I wish I could stay here with you all the time. If I wasn’t constantly being watched I would be here every spare second.”, Ed quietly adds. Roy wishes the same, having Ed here makes the house feel less empty, even if they just sit in silence.

“Once this is over, you can be here every second of every day, if that’s what you want.”, Roy tells Ed, hoping the young man catches the meaning behind those words.

“Are you asking me to move in with you?”, Ed replies, clearly understanding what Roy was getting at. Roy answers: “I know it’s a bit soon, but May seems hell-bent on staying with Alphonse and your apartment is getting crowded. And this house is so large and empty when it’s just me.”

Edward seems to think about that before replying: “If we live through this, I’ll consider it.”

Roy is thrilled that Ed is thinking about it, knowing how hard it is for Ed to call anything ‘home’ since he left Resembool.

“I have something for you.”, Ed says without any pretext, before continuing: “Give me your gloves.” Roy hands them over immediately, hoping this is the moment Ed gives him his trust.

Ed claps and touches the gloves, making them flare up with turquoise. They look unchanged, but Ed grins and drops them into a glass of water on the small table in front of them.

“I’ll give you the actual array to stitch into the gloves in just a sec, but I want to make sure it works first. Take them out and try lighting the fireplace.”, Ed tells him and he complies, grinning widely when it works. “This is incredible, Ed!”, Roy says, before grabbing Ed by the lapels of his shirt and kissing him on impulse. Ed seems surprised, but melts into the kiss after barely a second, winding his arms around Roy’s neck. The kiss doesn’t last very long, as Ed pulls back and says: “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

Roy smiles at his lover and replies: “You giving me this array is the ultimate sign of trust, the only thing you could hold over me. Besides, it was about time.”

Ed laughs and says: “I guess you’re right. I just… I don’t know. I wanted you to have the best chance at making it through this, and that was your biggest weakness in battle.”

“Thank you, Edward.”, Roy says, before leaning in to continue kissing his very own personal flame.

*****

Things had been going so well. Truly. Everybody was getting along quite nicely, they were as prepared as possible, and the senior staff clearly hadn’t quite caught on to what Roy was doing. Ed had given the waterproofing array; they had _finally_ taken a new step in their relationship. Considering that they were trying to stop the genocide of an entire country, Roy was very happy. Happier than he had ever been, in fact, which says a lot about his life so far. Of course that all had to go to hell as soon as he got optimistic. Ed would blame himself and say it was his rotten luck, but without Edward they would have been lost in the first place. No, this is on Roy.

One day he got into the office and found it completely empty. All he got was multiple pieces of paper on his desk showing transfer orders for his entire team. His pawn, West. His Bishop, North. His Rook, East. His Knight, South. His Queen. They had taken his Queen. They had taken her and were taunting him by waving her in his face during his move.

It’s a good thing he has Hughes, his very own Castling. Something they knew he could do, but will have disregarded and thus find themselves in check mate. And Ed. Ed is all of his pieces. He’s the board.

The Homunculi want to dominate the board, not realizing that they have been playing by the rules of the board from the start.

***** 

The coded message Riza gave him was certainly disturbing, but not nearly as surprising as it should have been. Of course the last Homunculi they were trying to find is in the body of the only pure thing this country could have made. Roy will have to find a way to tell Alex without making him cry.

*****

“Are you sure you want to do this? It’s sure to piss him off more than anything.”, Maes tells his best friend. Blowing up Bradley was a fantastic plan, if one forgot that the man was not human. He might age and bleed like any other human, but he was fast enough to dodge bullets _after_ they had left the barrel. Surely something so simple wasn’t going to be the solution. “Probably. But there’s a small chance it might kill him. Or injure him enough that he can’t fight. Really just delaying him would be the best – “, Roy replies, but suddenly falls silent at Alphonse’s hand clamping over his mouth. Alarmed, Roy turns only to find Ed nowhere in sight, Alphonse staring at a dark corner with narrowed eyes. His expression suddenly turns into one of scolding, before he says: “Really General Mustang. I mean it. I doubt Ed will let you back into his life. You should have thought this through before running off after some girl.”

Understanding that Edward and Alphonse clearly knew more than they did, Maes and Roy play along. They bicker about Ed for a good quarter of an hour before the tension leaves Alphonse and he says: “Sorry ‘bout that. I felt a presence.” Confused, Maes opens his mouth to ask for more information, only for Alphonse to answer the unvoiced question: “Ed should be far enough away now to not seem suspicious. I felt a Homunculus presence, but it seemed to be coming from the shadows. Particularly that corner there. It clearly got bored and left to make sure Ed really isn’t here.”

Maes, now properly alarmed, says: “They’re in my house? Are my girls safe?” Alphonse smiles and says: “I think so. They were following Roy, clearly. Also they have left by now.”

Hughes sighs in relief, but goes over the information again. Selim Bradley is the last one, Pride, and they hadn’t been sure what his power is. Seems the kid manipulates the shadows. This is going to make this all a hell of a lot harder.

***** 

The Promised Day is nearly upon them all. Hohenheim has made his last preparations, set the last point of his circle, and made his peace with the souls still residing in him. He will not visit Trisha’s grave. He will either see her on the other side, or have visit her again once this is all over. He would hug his boys, but neither would welcome it. While Edward had mostly forgiven him, being embraced now would feel like a goodbye – like he was leaving them again. He knew, if he wants to stay part of their lives – if he even survives this battle – he will have to make up for his mistakes for a very long time. Before he met Trisha, Hohenheim had wandered the earth, not caring whether he lived or died. After she had died, he had wanted to follow her. He still had a Homunculus to stop and two sons he wanted to get to know, but he knew his death would cause them little pain at this point. Only now, for the second time since the fall of Xerxes, and the first time since Trisha’s death, does he truly want to stay alive.

 

Van Hohenheim in shaken out of his musings by Faraj, waving a hand in front of his face and saying: “Did you hear me? The train has fallen and nobody has seen the target yet. The Missus is with your son’s Alchemist.”

The circumvent way Faraj describes people is amusing, and telling of the effort he is making. Bradley is no longer mentioned by name, and Mustang is no longer evil in his eyes, but has been degraded to a side-effect of working with somebody he actually respects.

Hohenheim nod’s and says: “Alright. That means as soon as she is with Gracia at the station, all players are in place. Let’s begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are much appreciated, and give me so much joy, so please make my day brighter! <3


	7. The Promised Day Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Promised Day has come. This is the part before the Dwarf in the Flask activates his array.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So I meant to put all of this into one chapter, but it's proving difficult to write, and also very long, so I'm splitting it up. Might still upload the rest today, but I still have a 3D Analysis to do, so we'll see.
> 
> Unbeta'd, ENJOY!
> 
> PS: Some of these ideas (Like the radiostation, though I used it differently, and it was used in canon, kind of) are inspired by Batsutousai's "Reverti ad Praeteritum", because that story is now canon in my head. I don't know how to embed links in AO3, so you're going to have to look for it.

The Promised Day - Spring 1915

“Alright, let’s go over the positions one last time. Edward, Riza, Van Hohenheim, May, Faraj, and myself go through the third laboratory. We should find the belly of the beast easily enough. Hiding above ground we have Greed, Ling and his guard, the Chimeras, the Curtis’, and all volunteer fighters that are not tied to the military. The radio station will have the Rockbells, Alphonse and volunteer doctors, Marcoh, and a few volunteer fighters, though we expect any attacks to be by one of the Homunculi, and they are best dealt with by targeting their weakness, and less by simply hauling soldiers at them.

“Our military forces will distract and _non-fatally_ injure as many soldiers as possible. Every group has one person with them that can sense the Homunculi, except for our military forces, so I ask you to be cautious. I think that’s everything. One last thing. _Don’t die_! Now, everybody, to your stations!”, Roy tells the assembled group in the Armstrong mansion. Dawn is upon them, and they need to start as soon as possible. The Promised Day has arrived.

*****

The sound of gunfire doesn’t reach them once they descend the staircase in Lab 3. It was surprisingly easy. Ed released a wave of energy that took out the lights, and after some stumbling around, they found the entrance. The entire team follows Ed, May and Hohenheim, who can feel where the energy is strongest.

They find themselves at a large door that makes Ed and Hohenheim take a sharp breath. This is the gate, only in colour. Standing in front of that gate are two Homunculi, Gluttony and Lust, by the looks of them.

“Well, well, I’m surprised you found your way here. It’s a shame, young Edward, we were hoping you’d come willingly, but you seem hell bent on fighting. You really do look just like your father. If you come with us now, we will spare your friends.”, Lust says, though Ed knows a lie when he sees one. He can’t read her _qi_ , there’s too much going on, but he knows not to trust such a sentence. Thankfully, so does nobody else, as Roy bursts out laughing. Ed grins and throws a kunai at Gluttony, who swallows it – of course he does – though it works just as well for Ed. He yanks the water out of the large creature’s body and uses it to drown it. This clearly angers Lust, whose spear nearly hits Ed before she’s set on fire by Roy.

“Thanks, babe.”, Ed yells. Riza fires bullets into Lust while the rest of the team gets ready to take over Gluttony so Ed can get close. Ed drops the ball of water and while Gluttony regenerates, Hohenheim and May trap the creature. Ed creeps up behind it, leaps, claps and slaps both hands onto Gluttony’s exposed back, destroying his Philosopher’s Stone with Marcoh’s array. While the first Homunculus dissolves, Roy is steadily burning Lust to a crisp. Ed yells: “ _Break_!”, signalling to Roy to let Ed get close, which gets Lust’s attention. Ed reaches her and destroys her Stone, but not before one of her spears pierces his side.

 

Roy goes white when he sees the blood slowly staining Ed’s shirt, while May runs up to him in order to heal the damage. Ed calmly reassures her that it’s not serious and that he’s sure nothing of import was damaged. Alchehestry will suffice. She nods and he feels the pain ebb to nothing once the green light of the transmutation fades.

“Are you alright, Ed?”, Roy asks, still looking like he thinks Ed might collapse any second. Ed lifts up his shirt, showing Roy the slightly pink skin where the spear went through. “I’m fine, Roy. Stab wounds are easy to heal.” Roy nods, but doesn’t take his eyes off of Ed when they start walking towards the door. Ed stops suddenly, sensing a large mass of energy coming towards them. “What is that?”, May asks, clearly feeling it too. Just then, the large doors open to reveal a horde of humanoid _things_ walking towards them, groaning.

“That would be the Immortal Legion Armstrong warned us about.”, Roy replies, backing away from the door. Hohenheim seals the entrance to the chamber, leaving their group without an escape route, but also not allowing the mannequins to leave.

Roy says: “Alright, everybody, stay close to me and don’t move. I’ll burn the lot once they’re closer.”

Ed hates killing these things, just like hates killing the Homunculi. They are sentient beings and he is against murder – that isn’t for sustenance – no matter what is being killed. He may be releasing the souls trapped in the stones, but he will still mourn the dead and the loss of his innocence in this last regard. He has sealed his fate in hell, hopefully he will get to have a good life first.

Roy incinerates the mannequins and they scream, even though they shouldn’t _feel_ it. Ed can tell that they are scared even if this doesn’t hurt them. They aren’t made of flesh, but he _feels_ their terror. He will have even more nightmares to fill his dreams now.

“You can open your eyes, little girl, they’re gone.”, Faraj tells May, who looks about as sick as Ed feels. “They were so scared, Ed.”, May whispers and he hugs her, even though he doesn’t usually do that. Hohenheim must have felt it too, but he seems unaffected. Perhaps it’s because he’s felt that particular type of _qi_ all his life, from the souls in his body. Ed hopes Faraj doesn’t think Roy killed more of his people, even though that is technically true. Those stones were made from Ishvalans, but they’re free now.

“We have to keep moving. Mourn the dead when the battle is done, lest you join them.”, Riza says, her eyes colder than Ed has ever seen them. She is in full fight mode, leaving no room for sentiment yet.

So they move on, following the rancid _qi_ until they come to a giant chamber, with a bunch of middle aged men holding sword, a man with glasses and a gold tooth squatting in the middle of them, drawing a transmutation circle.

“Oh dear, you’re too early. Keep them off my back for a while would you?”, the man says and the sword wielding men descend upon them.

*****

Faraj promised to use his brother’s Alchemy only to defend others, and only as a last resort. He keeps his promises. His hands are soon covered in gashes from deflected swords, though he is careful to keep the circles on his arms intact. It’s a fairly even fight until suddenly a shout goes up from the Flame Alchemist. Distracted despite himself, Faraj looks at him, only to see him try to hold on the the vanishing hand of Edward, while Hohenheim looks resigned as he is being deconstructed. The distraction, and loss of two fighters, gives the doctor’s men the time they need to capture the remaining fighters.

The two blond men vanish and the doctor makes his final line on the floor, grinning.

***** 

Not aware of the chaos below, Izumi tunnels into Central Command, dispatching of cannibalistic mannequins while she’s at it. She finally breaks into her intended chamber only to find more mannequins and a very large creature.

“Izumi. Perfect timing.”, Olivier says to her, slicing through knees and jaws of mannequins, while Alex seems to be trying to get the large thing – must be Sloth – from attacking his sister.

“Here to help. Sig, darling, help Alex. Remind him that he has an array.”, Izumi tells her husband, turning to Olivier and using Faraj’s signature move and deconstructing the creature’s knees. There are quite a few soldiers who are trying their best to help, though Izumi’s quite sure they should be shooting Olivier for being a traitor. These men and women are clearly smart enough to worry about the cannibalistic mannequins before anything else.

The flow of said mannequins turns into a trickle, so Izumi chances a look at her husband, who is shaking hands with Alex, the Homunculus beside them dissolving.

They follow the last remnants of the mannequins to the Fuhrer’s office, finding the corpse of some idiot general, and a stairway going down further than the light from above can reach.

“Well. The rest of my team is with your bears, so I guess we’re going down there.”, Izumi says, earning a nod from the other three.

*****

The Briggs troops had managed to take Central Command by now, and most soldiers were getting tired and scared. That was of course, before Bradley decided to just walk calmly toward the front gates, not a single scratch on him. The Central troops caught their second wind, and Wrath destroyed a goddamn tank. Buccaneer is the first to reach him, and he does well, but not well enough. He can’t land a scratch on the man, but takes a sword through the gut. He stumbles backwards, taking the sword with him. By the amount of blood gushing out of the wound despite the sword still being in the wound, Greed knows he won’t last long, especially not if he tries to keep fighting.

Greed nods at Ling, and they both charge the man, Ling’s bodyguards in tow.

The Wrath is fast, faster than Greed anyway. Though Ling and his guard are just as fast. Greed would be dead ten times over, if he wasn’t a Homunculus, so he is extremely impressed by the young Prince. If they both make it through this, he might take the young man out for a drink. He has never felt like somebody was his equal, always owning people more than anything, but this Xingan prince was proving to be too formidable to own.

 

Their combined power is enough to distract Wrath, and Buccaneer stumbles away from the fight. In a truly brave, but stupid move, he pulls the sword from his gut and stabs Bradley in the back with it. He didn’t see this move coming, too distracted by the four people trying to get beneath his guard, and stumbles. With an angry yell he swipes his sword across the Captain’s neck, nearly severing it in the process. With most of the Briggs troops rushing toward their superior, Bradley runs to the edge of the fort and jumps, though Greed catches him. He makes sure to make his grip as tight as possible, feeling the bones beneath his hand creak and finally break. Bradley uses his other arm to throw his sword at Greed’s head, his aim true, making him release his grip. Wrath tumbles into the water and doesn’t resurface.

“Is he dead?”, Ling asks him, to which Greed shakes his head and replies: “I doubt it. He’ll have swum somewhere. Though maybe we’re lucky and his broken wrist makes him so slow he drowns. I wouldn’t count on it.”

Ling just nods and moves his attention to Buccaneer, who has clearly bled out by now. Greed liked Buccaneer, he was a great fighter and took no nonsense. He steals his resolve and covers his entire body with his shield and says to the troops assembled by the Captain’s body: “Listen up everybody. You can mourn later. For now, let’s make sure the rest of the soldiers don’t get in here. Armstrong ordered you to hold the gate, so let’s hold the gate.”

*****

Wounded come to the radio station en masse and Alphonse is glad some of his friends decided to come help out. They don’t know the whole story, but they know enough. At some point, however, nobody comes for an hour. That is, until a mass of _qi_ that looks like Edward comes stumbling toward them, covered in blood. It has to be Envy. Not only does this not feel like Ed, it also doesn’t have an automail leg, by the sound of its steps. Al looks at Marcoh and nods at him to come to the entrance with him.

“Al, thank god, please help me!”, Fake-Ed says, making Alphonse look at him with cold eyes: “Your impression of my brother is terrible.” Fake-Ed’s face turns into one of shock and he beseechingly says: “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Help me!”, making a show of swaying slightly on his feet.

“Then what are the ingredients that make up a human, down to the last gram, please.”, Al says. The impostor keeps trying to keep up the farce, saying: “We don’t have time for this, Al. Can’t you see I’m badly injured?”

“Wrong answer.”, Al says before clapping – Fake-Ed’s eyes widen – and trapping the impostor in vines from the plants around them. “Give up, Envy, we know it’s you. Ed doesn’t ask for help, Ed walks unevenly because of the Automail leg you _clearly_ don’t have, and Ed would have rattled off the ingredients for a human being within five seconds. Besides which we knew it was you when you came within a hundred metres of this place.”

Fake-Ed grimaces in a way Ed never would and transforms into his usual form amidst red sparks. “Fine. As a reward for seeing through me, why don’t I show you my real form!”, Envy says before breaking free of the vines and turning into a very large green monster, making everybody who wasn’t in on the scheme shriek.

“He’ll be slow like this. I’ll draw his fire, you destroy the Stone.”, Al murmurs to Marcoh while fake Envy transforms. Marcoh nods and takes off his gloves, revealing the circle drawn there. “I should have known you’d be ugly. No wonder your name is Envy, I’d be jealous of everyone too if I looked like that!”, Alphonse yells at the beast, making it shake the ground with its fury. “How dare you! Filthy human!”, Envy yells swiping at Al, who is much faster and easily dodges, clapping his hands and summoning the plants where he had planted a kunai when they were setting up. It must make an impressive show, all plants in the area bending to Al’s will. He makes the branches and vines whip the creature, while lifting Dr Marcoh up towards the back of Envy’s head.

“You are a sacrifice, I must tell father!”, Envy says gleefully, trying to turn back towards Central Command, but finding his path blocked by the plants in Al’s control forming a wall of green. “You will tell him nothing.”, Marcoh says from behind Envy, slamming his palm onto Envy’s head, making the creature scream until only ashes remain. Out of those ashes, a tiny green worm crawls, calling everyone filthy worms weakly.

Al picks it up looking it in the eyes. “So this is your real form! You need two stones to be the form you want.”, Al says to the little thing. It looks mighty angry, hissing at him. Marcoh goes to stand next to Alphonse and says: “Give it here, I’ll get rid of it.”, without any emotion at all. “This is a sentient being. Killing it when it’s this defenceless feels wrong.”, Alphonse replies, making the thing even angrier. “How dare you! I’m not defenceless! Even in this form I could easily best you, you stupid human!”, it yells, struggling in Al’s grip.

Winry walks up to them with the Ishvalan priest who taught Ed, trying to see what’s going on. “What are _you_ doing here? Why are _you_ helping the guy who killed your buddies? Why aren’t you fighting? And you, girlie! Your parents are dead because of his buddies!”, Envy cries. Winry doesn’t even reply, but the priest says: “Because he was ordered to do bad things by his superior. By killing you, he is freeing my people from that awful stone. I would no more blame him than I would a knife used to stab me.”

Envy doesn’t seem to understand, because he struggles more now, shouting: “How can you humans forgive so easily? _How_?!” Winry looks at him with pity, saying: “Is that why your name is Envy? Because you’re jealous of humans?”

“How _dare_ you! You filthy human! You know nothing!”, Envy cries, tears leaking out of its disproportionally large eyes. Al says: “You are, aren’t you. Of how we can get over our differences and recover from our grief and anger. You’re jealous of our mental strength. You cover your mental weakness with physical strength and arrogance, but at your core, you’re just a pitiful creature.”

Envy starts crying in earnest, biting Alphonse, who drops him. He goes to pick him up, but the creature doesn’t even move from where it was dropped. Just sits on its hind legs and stares up at the humans around it. “We’ll see how long your little alliances will last. Good luck to you.”, it says, ripping out its own core and crushing it in its tiny hands.

*****

Edward finds himself in a large chamber, right next to his father. On a raised platform sits a throne with a man who looks _just_ like Hohenheim. “Dad? Where are we?”, Ed says. He only recently started calling Hohenheim ‘dad’. It makes the old man smile every time he does, though. “That, Edward, is the Dwarf in the Flask, Homunculus.”, Hohenheim answers.

“Freaky, he looks just like you.”, Ed says. The man’s voice, however, is completely different when he says: “Van Hohenheim, you never told me you had a son.”

“That was on purpose.”, Hohenheim replies coldly. “Tell me, why are we here?”, he continues, clearly stalling for time. “Because you are my sacrifices. People who have seen the truth. I need five, the other three should be joining us shortly.”

Just then, a giant eye opens in the ceiling, dropping Grand onto the floor next to Ed. His eyes are wide and he seems to be spitting blood. Ed runs to him and asks: “What did it take?” Grand opens his mouth and coughs up more blood. When he tries to speak, only a wheezing sound escapes. Both men stare at each other as realization blooms. Ed claps his hands and holds them to Grand’s throat. It looks like his vocal chords were ripped out of his body. Ed does all he can, making sure Grand doesn’t drown in his own blood, but he can’t replace his voice. “I’m sorry, Basque.”, Ed says and Grand nods in acceptance, his shoulders slumping from the loss.

“How good of you, Edward. Can’t have my sacrifices dying on me before I can use them, after all.”, the Homunculus says, making Ed scowl at him. He wants to know why Grand did it, but the man can’t answer so it’s pointless. He resolves to ask at the earliest opportunity.

Hohenheim has been speaking to the Homunculus this entire time, asking what it wants to accomplish, but Ed hadn’t been listening. He had just realized that Grand being here means they must be making people commit the taboo because they don’t know about Alphonse and Teacher. He’s relieved those two are as safe as they can be, but that also means Roy is very likely to fall through the ceiling any moment now.

He recalls when Ed had asked Roy what he wanted to know, Roy replying with ‘ _Everything_ ’, making Ed laugh, but also hope with all his might that Roy will never know everything.

 

When Ed’s fears come true, Roy falls through the ceiling, but at least he seems to be fine, which is probably not a good sign. “Roy! Roy what did it take?”, Ed asks and Roy doesn’t look at him, his eyes strangely dull. “Ed? Is that you? Where are we? It’s so dark… why is it so dark, Ed?”, Roy replies. Ed’s stomach drops. “Roy? I’m right here. Roy, I’m so sorry.”, Ed replies, not being able to form the words to inform his lover that it’s not dark at all. Roy asks again: “Why is it so dark, Ed? Where are the lights?”, and this time Ed replies: “It’s not dark, Roy. The gate took your sight.”

*****

“Ah, there’s our last sacrifice!”, the Homunculus says, as the last person to fall from the ceiling is none other than Solf J. Kimblee. He does not look well. The gate seems to have taken both of his arms, staining his white suit red. “Oh dear, he does not look well at all. No matter, the time is nearly upon us.”, the Homunculus continues, parts of his body shooting out and grabbing the five Alchemists, positioning them in a circle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may come as a surprise, but comments are much appreciated! I know, I never say that.
> 
> Sorry for possibly leaving you with a cliffhanger for a week. I honestly don't know when I'll update, but it will be before the 19th. <3


	8. The Promised Day Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Promised Day continuation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I suck guys. I missed the deadline, but whatever, here's the rest of the Promised Day. There's one more Chapter to come, but that's basically just the aftermath. I will at some point write another part to this about what everybody is doing after this, but that might take a while xD
> 
> Unbeta'd. Enjoy anyway!

Roy doesn’t know what happened for a while. He couldn’t see what happened, but for a while he couldn’t breathe. When he could he opened his eyes – not that it made a difference – and heard Edward shouting. He heard Hohenheim yelling for them to get behind him, and as Roy didn’t know where the man was, assumed this would be the end of him.

It wasn’t. He might not be able to see, but he can feel the heat around him, feel the power of an Alchemical battle. He feels useless, letting himself be steered away from the fight by Edward, and told to hide. He hates hiding. He knows he can’t help – in his current state he would likely hurt an ally by accident. He wishes the gate had taken anything else, even without his Alchemy he could have at least used his gun.

He hears a laboured breath close to him, and turns to find the source, only to slip after stumbling a few steps. He doesn’t have to see the puddle he’s standing in to know what it is. He can smell it.

“Who - ”, he starts, hoping it isn’t Edward, only to be cut off by the voice he knows belongs to Kimblee: “Mustang. Make him pay.” Roy finally reaches the man, and tries to find out why he’s bleeding so much, and finds a torso, and legs, but doesn’t need to ask to know what the gate took. Roy also notices that he can’t hear the laboured breathing anymore and tries to find the man’s pulse at his throat. It’s still there, but very faint. Not knowing what else to do, he calls for Ed, berating himself for not asking if there’s a healing array that uses Amestrian Alchemy.

“Oh no, Edward Elric. I did not give you permission to see to our friend. He is of no use to me now. Though neither is the Flame Alchemist, and now that he has so kindly given away his position – Pride!”, the Dwarf in the Flask yells for his smallest, yet most powerful Homunculus. Roy hears Edward run for him – strange how with his loss of sight, he can easily distinguish those uneven footsteps – followed by a horrifying sound that he really hopes isn’t Pride devouring Kimblee. He claps his hands together, ready to transmute anything really, though he’s pretty sure nothing he can do right now will do much good against Pride’s shadows. Furthermore, he can’t feel the connection to the tectonic movements. Seems as though Hohenheim was right, the bastard really can turn off their Alchemy.

He hears something clang off what must be Ed’s Automail, and knows the young man is defending Roy from Pride. He tries not to let it get to him that he is barely more than a damsel in distress at this point, but he can’t even follow the battle to know whether or not his lover is alright.

It feels like an eternity, and Roy wonders how it is Ed’s capable of using his _leg_ to defend against Pride’s shadows, until he hears a scream that he easily identifies as _not Ed_ , before hearing what sounds like thousands of people screaming. “That’s all the souls going back to their bodies. Now we just have to hope Faraj manages to activate the other circle.”, the young man continues. Roy can still hear the battle going on around him, but Edward doesn’t leave his side. He can hear gun shots, meaning Grand is still alive and – maybe not _well_ – fighting with his sidearm, since Alchemy is currently not in the picture for any of them. Once this is over, Roy is going to learn Alchehestry, if only so he can be useful while blind. Sensing _qi_ would certainly make things easier.

Roy doesn’t know what’s going on anymore. He’s about to ask Ed about it, when he feels the power returning to his Alchemy. As soon as he feels it, Ed says: “Stay here, Basque is right next to you, I gotta go help my father battle his clone.”

\-----

Riza does her best to help her best friend join the fight, giving clear instructions on where and how to aim, itching to do more. She will never admit it to anyone, but she feels terrible – weak, in pain, a little bit faint. The fight seems to go on forever, though with Bradley out of the picture, thanks to Faraj, and Greed doing his best to protect Ling – which is truly strange – at least they can depend on the fact that they all stand united against a single foe. The Central troops joined the rest of them as soon as they saw the Homunculus burst from the ground and steal their comrades’ souls. They likely remember the feeling of being trapped in a Philosopher’s Stone as well as she does.

She will forever cherish the look on the Dwarf in the Flask’s face at discovering that there are two more Alchemists among them capable of internal arrays, and that he somehow managed to miss them. In his rage he started getting desperate, practically destroying Central command, and trying to claim Edward’s soul. Roy only heard the young man choke and made sure to torch the monster at once. Alphonse wasn’t caught in the blast itself, but was close enough to it for debris to fly at him. Thankfully he was seen to by May Chang immediately, re-joining the fight as soon as she let him. Seeing his little brother barely escape death made Edward as angry as the Homunculus, prompting the young man to throw everything he had at the monster.

Everybody is throwing their all at the Homunculus, though they don’t even manage to touch him. It takes a long time and considerable firepower to break through the invisible shield, and as soon as Edward sees he can break through, he takes a running leap – clapping mid-jump – and slams a hand onto the forearm the monster was using to block the attack.

The young man is thrown back by an invisible power, and only barely manages to twist in order to avoid hitting his head on one of the piles of debris strewn across the parade grounds. The silence following that last hit is deafening. The monster itself is staring at his arm in shock as it starts to crumple, the cracks forming all over his body from that point, leaking souls. Those same souls leave his body faster and faster until none are left, replaced by black hands, pulling on every piece of the monster’s body they can find until he folds in on himself and vanishes with a soft pop, screaming all the while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY AGAIN.  
> Please comment even though I'm bad at keeping my own update schedule!


	9. After The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath. Well, some of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So this is actually the last chapter! Though I might be adding an epilogue, but probably not, since I kind of want to give the resolution to this entire arch its own work (or more than one, really).
> 
> This is unbeta'd. Enjoy!!

“Is it over?”, Roy hears himself say to nobody in particular. He is met with silence, before somebody clears their throat and says: “Yes, Roy. It’s over.”

He knows it’s Riza, but before he can reply, a cheer goes up around them. He wants to join in on the celebrations, but as much as he is overjoyed about their victory, he knows as soon as he gets a minute to himself he will start mourning all that was lost – friends, comrades, his sight. He can count himself lucky that he doesn’t have much of a family, save for the Madam and her girls, and he knows for a fact that all of them are safe. Everybody he knows was dead – or soulless – for a few minutes today, save for those that were in the Homunculi’s lair with him. He wants to find Ed, find out if the young blonde is alright, but he knows his words would not be heard over the cheers around him, so all he can do is hope the young man finds him.

He feels a tug on his elbow, and Riza almost shouts in his ear: “Come on, let’s get to the hospital, we have to have your hands checked out.”

\-----

Ed lost sight of Roy in the chaos of the aftermath. He knows where he was before people were running to hug their loved ones, and starts towards that spot, when Al almost tackles him to the ground with the force of his hug.

“Brother, we did it.”, the younger Elric says to him, and Ed hugs him back just as tight. He can’t feel the relief yet, thoughts still with the people who wouldn’t be able to celebrate with them. He isn’t mourning, not yet. The time for that will come when everything else is dealt with. But he feels the despair trying to claw its way up his throat.

“Al, there’s something I gotta do before I go anywhere.”, Ed tells his brother, letting the young man go. Knowing this is something that absolutely cannot wait until he’s been seen to by the medics at the very least, he starts back towards Central Command, back to where he left Selim, and isn’t the least surprised to feel his brother following him.

\-----

“Are you sure Vanny?”, the last soul in him asks, knowing exactly what the man is planning. The familiar nickname barely fazes him anymore. This is his best friend, has been with him since before he got his devil’s name, and the last one that will leave him, and then all he will have left is his own life. He knows without his friend he will never outlive his sons, which is fine with him. Outliving his wife was bad enough, he doesn’t think he can bear to watch his sons wither and die before his eyes. He may not live a whole lot longer than them, but he would rather be with Trisha. He has lived long enough, his boys are all grown up, they don’t need him anymore. The least he can do, is give his eldest the gift of a lover who can see him, to give his best friend to Mustang. An equivalent exchange.

Mustang might not accept the gift, but Hohenheim doesn’t plan on giving the man much choice. Even if he takes him up on the offer, Ed might never forgive either of them. He will give Grand a choice though. It will be his last life, after all. He will not burden a man with knowingly taking a man’s last bit of life.

\-----

“Ling.”, Greed says to the young Xingan. The young man turns to him, a gentleness in his gaze he only shows to a very select few people. “Yes, Greed?”, he replies.

“I assume you’re leaving soon.”, it isn’t a question. Ling sighs and says: “I might have to. I don’t know how much longer the Emperor will live, and while coming home empty handed is bad, not being there at all will be much worse.”

Greed grins and says: “Who says you have to go empty handed.”

\----- 

May is torn. She has to go home. She knows she does. She came here to learn more, not knowing that her father would be dying soon. Not knowing that she had to save her clan. Not knowing she would fall in love. But they are depending on her. Alphonse would understand, she knows he would. Would even come with her if she asked. But she has nothing to show to the Emperor, and as a girl, she is unlikely to become Empress. And if she were to become that, she would not be able to marry Alphonse, not matter if he is the son of their fabled sage. Her clan will probably die with or without her, since her chances of becoming Empress are so very low. She is torn.

“Little sister. Don’t cry.”, Ling says to her. She hadn’t even noticed the tears slowly tumbling down her cheeks. Looking at her brother – half-brother – she knows he feels it too. Knows his clan will not do well either, coming home empty handed. But she feels Greed hovering nearby, knows the Homunculus will follow Ling anywhere.

“My clan - ”, she starts, only to be interrupted: “May. You have nothing to show for all your time here. You returning home will not help your clan.”, Ling tells her, and she feels familiar anger boiling in her gut, and is about to shout at her brother, only for him to smile and continue: “I’m going home. Greed says he’ll come too, show father immortality. I think I will be able to sway him to my side. Greed doesn’t care if I have to take wives or concubines. Hell, he’d probably join if they let him. But you, this is your home. I promise, on my honour as a Yao, as a Xingan, as a prince, as your brother, I will see your clan fed, just like all of them.”

May’s eyes go wide, and she says: “All of them? Isn’t that a bit greedy?”. Ling chuckles and replies: “Maybe Greed rubbed off on me. Regardless, I will see a united people, one big clan. If you decide to stay here, I will make sure that your clan survives, and thrives.”

May can’t stop the tears now, and gives in to the urge to hug Ling, something she has never done. He seems surprised but relaxes into the hug. Neither of them notices Greed smiling at them both.

\-----

“Winry?”, Paninya startles Winry out of her thoughts, watching everybody embrace their loved ones, and feeling bad for not looking for Ed and Al. They are her family, but not the person she wants to hold close right now.

“I was looking for you.”, Winry tells the other girl. She smiles, replying: “I’d say you found me, but I found _you_.”

Winry reaches out a hand to her, and she takes it. Paninya asks: “What will you do?” Winry pretends to think about it, before saying: “Come home.”

\-----

Roy is almost glad he can’t see the sterile white walls surrounding him. His hands are bandaged, and he was told he will probably be able to keep his mobility if he lets them heal properly, and is scolded for even moving them in the first place. He hears a door open, and before he can wonder who it is, he hears a deep voice say: “I’m sorry.”, before the world goes white.

 

It’s strange, that after all that time only seeing black, suddenly he is standing back in the terrible place, seeing the Truth again. He wants to panic, but he sees Hohenheim standing with him, knowing the man must have been the one to activate the array. He still panics a little bit, since this is a place he never wanted to visit again.

Truth is frowning at the pair of them, and says: “What are you two doing back here?”

Hohenheim glances at Roy, and _oh God_ , he knows what’s about to happen, and Ed will kill him, and says: “I came for his sight. I have your toll.”, at his words, a man about Hohenheim’s age appears next to him, smiling. He has Xerxian colouring and is wearing a tunic, with the number 24 stitched into his breast pocket.

“You would give your best friend for somebody else’s sight? The last soul you still have in you? Somebody who is virtually a stranger to you?”, Truth states, the mocking tone Roy remembers back.

“This is the man my son loves. I wasn’t there for my sons when they needed me most, this is the least I can do to pay at least one of them back.”, Hohenheim states. Even though Ed had only let it slip once, half asleep and faced with food, Roy had known Ed loved him. Roy loves Ed a hell of a lot more than his sight, and Ed will be beyond furious to know Hohenheim his life for him. True, Roy didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, but he wasn’t going to lose Ed over this, so he speaks up: “I don’t want it. I will not take your life in exchange for my sight.”

Hohenheim smiles at him: “Don’t worry General Mustang, this might be the last Xerxian I have in me, but I still have my own. I won’t outlive my sons, but no father should. Without this soul I will still live to the ripe old age of eighty. Plus, the five hundred or so years that my people have given me.”

Roy feels a little bit better, but not much.

“It doesn’t matter. He activated the circle, it is his decision to pay this toll. Nothing you say or do will change the fact. Unless you wish to add another toll to the one you have already paid. But even then I will still take Slave 23’s toll. Opening the gate always requires a toll. You simply happened to be in the circle, and you weren’t meant to be the toll, so really, you have no say in this matter.”, Truth informs him, mockingly as usual.

He was going to follow Ed’s example and punch Hohenheim once they got out of this. He just wishes he could punch Truth as well.

\-----

Basque stares at the walls around him. His loved ones have long since left, to finally get some sleep. Basque won’t sleep. He knows he won’t. His dreams will be filled with a white void, a mocking figure laughing at him with his own voice. If he can stay awake on pure spite, he will.

The door opens, and visiting hours are long over, and he has a second to be scared that someone has come to eliminate him after he survived all that hell. He recognizes the man in the room as Van Hohenheim, the Elric’s father. He throws him a questioning glance, not being able to voice the obvious question of what on earth the man is doing in his room in the dead of night.

The man smiles and says: “I’m giving you a choice. I have one life left. I can give you your voice back, but it will be the last thing I do. I have lived long enough. I want to join my wife.”

Grand stares at the man incredulously. He may have killed more people than he is comfortable admitting, but that was in war, in defence of himself and people he cared about. This, this is pointless murder. He still has his hearing; all he has to learn is sign language. He has already resigned himself to that. Has even asked his team to find him books or a teacher.

Before the man can say anything more, Basque takes the paper and pen next to his bed – his team brought it as soon as they realized he had no way to communicate otherwise – and starts writing.

 

_Have you talked to your boys about this?_

Hohenheim looks ashamed of himself and says: “No. I’m terrible at goodbyes, and they wouldn’t let me do this.”

 

Grand scowls at the man and continues writing:

 

_From what I heard, you abandoned them without a goodbye when they were children. Do you really want to leave them without a goodbye again? This time forever?_

_I don’t need your life. My voice was always important to me, yes, but I can learn sign language. This won’t ruin my life. If I let you do this, Edward will never forgive me, and I happen to like the kid._

_Be there for your sons. If this is truly your last life, spend it with them, die with them, like a father should._

Hohenheim reads his note, his shoulders dropping, and nods. He tells Grand: “Edward knows sign language, I’m sure he’ll help you, if this is what you want.”

That is news to Basque, but he’s hardly surprised. He smiles at the blonde, nods and shoos him out of his room with a last note not to go bother Mustang with this, only to be told it’s too late for that. Well, at least now he knows where Ed gets his ‘act first, ask questions later’ attitude from.

\----- 

Al watches May leave with her brother, but he doesn’t feel sad at all. He feels happy. He knows she’ll come back as soon as she knows who will inherit the throne, and if it isn’t Ling, Alphonse would come to her. He doesn’t necessarily like being apart from her for that long, but she needs to be with her family for a bit, and he will see her very soon. And when he does, he has a certain ring lying at home that he should really give her one of these days.

\----- 

Roy wakes to colours. Riza looks at him with concern, but Hohenheim is not here.

“Where is he?”, he asks his friend. She says: “Well you both came back and he bolted as soon as he opened his eyes, likely to escape the punch he would have received from you.”

Riza knows him too well. He’s about to ask about Ed, when the man himself comes barging through the door, eyes wild.

When the blonde sees Roy staring right back at him, the man looks angry and so, _so_ relieved.

“In my defence, I was given no choice.”, Roy says, hoping Ed isn’t angry enough with him to actually leave him. Ed laughs, and it’s a broken sound, tears starting to form in his eyes, and Roy can see that now that he feels like he can finally relax, all the adrenaline must have left his body, while all of the pain and sorrow came rushing in, along with the relief.

Ed – still laughing – comes up to Roy, takes his hands and touches their foreheads together. Green light surrounds them and Roy can feel the tendons in his hands knitting together, the bones fusing where pieces had broken off, the skin mending where it had been pierced. Injuries he hadn’t even noticed – scrapes and cuts all over his body from debris flying around, no doubt – suddenly stopped hurting, their dull ache vanishing.

The light fades and finds himself with an armful of Ed. The nurses will be angry that someone is sleeping in his bed, but as Ed’s breaths start getting deeper, he knows nobody will be able to tear Ed from his side, if either of them have anything to say about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed my addition to the FMA Big Bang 2017! I will be adding a link to the artist as soon as I find out how to embed links.. and add the actual art to the chapter it belongs to once I figure that out.. 
> 
> There will be more for this series, I promise, though I have no idea when I'll actually get to it. 
> 
> Cheers! I hope you had fun! And do please comment, it gives me so much joy!


End file.
